Grassley Prompts Secret Service Acting Director to Acknowledge ‘Sunshine is the Best Disinfectant’

07.30.2024

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today pressed Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe about the failed vetting and communications procedures that led to the near-assassination of former President Trump.

Rowe admitted to Grassley that he "had no explanation" for some of the Secret Service's shortcomings at the July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He additionally committed to improving certain agency procedures and providing transparent updates to Congress and the American people.

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Excerpts from Grassley's questioning follow.

Secret Service vetting procedures:

Grassley: "Mr. Rowe, in your written testimony, you stated that to prevent similar lapses like the one on July 13 from happening again, you'll ensure every event site's security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it's implemented. Based on your testimony, the security plan for the Butler event deviated from the [Secret Service's] standards. How would vetting by multiple experienced supervisors fix that?"

Rowe affirmed that "having many eyes on a particular problem set helps" prevent the Secret Service from having "tunnel vision" when assessing and staffing an event.

Secret Service's need for enhanced transparency:

Grassley: "In your written testimony, you stated that you 'regret that information wasn't passed to Congress and the public sooner and with greater frequency.' What's your communication plan going forward to ensure that the American people and Congress are fully informed?"

Rowe testified that the Secret Service has begun providing rolling productions to Congress with updates on its investigation of the assassination attempt. He added, "My view is that sunshine is the best disinfectant. We intend to provide information to Congress as it carries out its oversight function."

Grassley plans to follow up with the Secret Service to ensure all members of Congress receive access to the productions, not just committee chairs and ranking members.

Secret Service's drone and communications issues:

Grassley: "I made public documents that show Secret Service deployed a Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) operator on July 13. According to the Secret Service, the drone system was supposed to be operational at 3 p.m. that day. However, we've been told by Secret Service that because of cellular bandwidth problems, it wasn't operational until about 5:20 [p.m.] on that day.If the system was operational, Secret Service would've had the ability to detect the shooter and his own drone use. Why is the Secret Service dependent upon local cellular networks? Does Secret Service have back up plans in place?"

Rowe stated the Secret Service's failure to detect the shooter's drone has "cost [him] a lot of sleep." Had the Secret Service's Counter UAS platform been operational, Rowe noted, Secret Service might have been able to geo-locate the drone and intervene before the shooter proceeded with his assassination plot. This failure, Rowe said, "is something that I have struggled with to understand. And I have no explanation for it. It is something that I feel as though we could have perhaps found him. We could have maybe stopped him."

To ensure the Secret Service's Counter UAS platform remains fully operational going forward, Rowe committed to leveraging Department of Homeland Security resources to provide the Secret Service guaranteed connectivity.

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