Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced the appointment of a Trump-hating Democrat to an independent review panel tasked with investigating the government over the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump.
Trump was wounded in the assassination attempt, with a bullet miraculously only hitting his right ear. One supporter was killed and two seriously wounded in the attack on Trump as he spoke at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on evening of July 13, 2024.
The shooter, Thomas Crooks, was killed by a sniper after opening fire on Trump from a nearby rooftop that was not protected by the Secret Service or local law enforcement.
The review was ordered by Joe Biden last week. Mayorkas named four members to the panel. Two were officials in Republican George W. Bush’s administration. One was a former police chief in Democrat-run Prince George’s County, Maryland and the fourth is former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) who served as Barack Obama’s first Homeland Security secretary.
Last April, Napolitano ripped Trump on MSNBC, reported The Hill (excerpt):
“So, first of all, for former President Trump to run as a so-called law and order candidate, it would be like me saying I play in the NBA. I mean, it just… just doesn’t hold true,” she said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
Napolitano, then the president of the University of California, sued the Trump administration in 2017 over immigration (Los Angeles Times op-ed excerpt):
As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a little more than five years ago I signed the directive that created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. On Tuesday, President Trump ended DACA on little more than a whim. On Friday, in my capacity as president of the University of California, I filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to prevent the government from stripping DACA recipients of their ability to live, study and work in our country free from fear of deportation.
…My anger at DACA’s rescission doesn’t stem from pride in the work done to create this program, although I am very proud of the program. Instead it is motivated by the harm that eliminating DACA will cause to the so-called Dreamers at the University of California, the 10-campus system I now lead, and to the nearly 800,000 Dreamers across our country.
Statement on the DHS panel’s about page:
Following the events of July 13, 2024, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an independent security review of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas is naming a bipartisan panel with extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures. The independent review panel of experts from outside of government will be comprised of former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano; Ms. Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush; the Hon. Mark Filip, a former federal judge and Deputy Attorney General to President George W. Bush; and Chief David Mitchell, the former superintendent of Maryland State Police and former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Delaware. Secretary Mayorkas could invite additional experts to join the panel in the coming days.
Excerpt from Mayorkas press release
Following the events of July 13, 2024, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an independent security review of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas is naming a bipartisan panel with extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures.
The independent review panel of experts from outside of government will be comprised of former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano; Ms. Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush; the Hon. Mark Filip, a former federal judge and Deputy Attorney General to President George W. Bush; and Chief David Mitchell, the former superintendent of Maryland State Police and former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Delaware. Secretary Mayorkas could invite additional experts to join the panel in the coming days.
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened on July 13, and I am grateful to the distinguished members of this independent review who will bring decades of expertise in law enforcement and security operations to this important investigation,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Ensuring the safety and security of current and former Presidents is critical and one of our Department’s top priorities. The men and women of the Secret Service make it the greatest protective service in the world, with one of the most solemn and difficult missions in government. This independent review will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to ensure they carry out their no-fail mission most effectively and to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
As the President announced on July 14, the Administration is committed to sharing the results of this review with the American people. Secretary Mayorkas has also encouraged the panel members to notify him of recommendations that require immediate attention in real time, so changes can be quickly implemented if needed. The independent review will be conducted in such a way as to not interfere with the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation or any other criminal investigation.
