U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security
07/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/29/2024 12:43
In The News: House Homeland Members on Committee Investigation Into Trump Assassination Attempt
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) led a delegation of Committee members to the site of the July 13 campaign rally and failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Joined by Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), the members toured the grounds, examined the roof used by the shooter, and spoke with local officials, law enforcement, and witnesses. Members examined the magnitude of the security failures, identified key details, and furthered Congress' oversight efforts. Prior to the visit, Chairman Green subpoenaed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for documents regarding the failed security efforts surrounding the incident. DHS failed to satisfy the subpoena's July 26 deadline and remains delinquent in producing the compelled documents.
Following the site visit, the Committee held a hearing on Tuesday with Colonel Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, and Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the security failures of July 13.
Here is what members told the media about their trip and oversight:
WATCH: Chairman Green on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper
Chairman Green: "The other thing that they said was that the actual prompting of that was Crooks, the shooter, actually using the rangefinder. He was actually taking…range distance measurements. Of course it had already been reported, I think it was 62 minutes before the shooting as being suspicious. They then see him using the rangefinder. They leave their position. Now the question is, did they alert anyone they were leaving? Who told them to leave? They go to look, of course, Crooks gets on top of the building and begins firing…So, [they're] looking for a guy with a rangefinder, [the Secret Service] gets told by Pennsylvania State Police, and yet they still let the President get up on the podium. That's insanity."
WATCH: Chairman Green on Fox's America Reports
Chairman Green: "They sent a text picture 25 minutes before the President was shot, meaning about 10 to 12 minutes before he walked on stage, saying that a guy had used a rangefinder and was this suspicious person. Whomever at Secret Service didn't say 'Hey, Mr. President, let's hold up just a little bit until we find this guy,' that guy needs to be fired. Whoever was in charge in that command center and didn't make that decision, that person needs to go as well."
Chairman McCaul: "Going to the site of a crime scene is vitally important. I know that as a former federal prosecutor, Chairman of Homeland [Security Committee], now Foreign Affairs [Committee]. My biggest takeaway is how close the shooter was to the [former] President of the United States, with an unobstructed line of site, and by the grace of God did not kill the [former] President of the United States. We also learned that he had a detonating device with him at the time with two bombs in his car, presumably, to explode after his assassination, that would cause a diversion and allow him to escape. Some of the other takeaways- a big tower, a water tower, behind this building. Why in the world Secret Service didn't put an agent on that tower, which would've had a full view of the property and the landscape at issue… So many mistakes."
Subcommittee Chairman Gimenez: "It would be pretty easy for anybody to walk around [on that roof]. I'm telling you, it's really not a big deal. The slope on my house roof is a lot worse than that and I get up there all the time. Like I said, I'm seventy years old, don't tell me that a Secret Service or police officer younger person can't do it, I did it and other people did it and… [had] no problems at all."
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"I want all the communications, I want all the tapes, and I want to see the timelines on when who said what to who and then what was followed or what was not done."
WATCH: Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) on Fox's Watters' World
Rep. Crane: "The first thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the SUV in the parking lot was the towering water tower that had the largest, most unobstructed view of the entire property. That was the thing I said immediately-if I was a counter-sniper, I would want to be up there. As we walked the grounds and went over to the buildings and got up on the roof where the shooter was, Jesse, I looked up and there was that water tower 160 yards away, which makes me wonder who actually placed the counter-snipers in position. Not only would that individual not have been able to shimmy up that roof, low crawl to the apex and take seven or eight shots at the former President, he wouldn't have even been able to get on the ladder had somebody been up on that water tower."
WATCH: Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) on Fox Business' Mornings with Maria
Rep. Lee: "First off, we had a chance to really walk the grounds, inspect the area, see the perimeter, and a couple things were crystal clear. One, it was not a large area. This is a space that should have been secure, that should have been well within the capability of law enforcement to make sure that it was secure. We saw the roof. All of us had the opportunity to take a look at that roof where the shooter camped out. It was not a steep slope…members of Congress walking up on that roof. So, it's something that clearly they could've handled. The other thing is, we have the water tower, other buildings, so our takeaway is this seems like something that is just a catastrophic failure to communicate, a catastrophic failure to plan and prevent what is clearly an avoidable circumstance down there at the rally."
WATCH: Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) on Newsmax's National Report
Rep. Brecheen: "With [Director] Cheatle's resignation, now we've got to move into a place of understanding procedures and personnel…There's a water tower about 200 yards directly above where the shooter was at that has… a side rail all the way around it, and that should have been also manned. Why did that not occur? What is the template for these enforcement officers to be able to come in on the advance team and know that they have to have certain procedures in place? So we've got to have an examination of those procedures and personnel."
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