Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe testified before the Senate Judiciary and Senate Homeland Security Committees Tuesday in a joint hearing on the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
During the hearing Acting Director Rowe said it was “unfair persecution” to relieve officials who were responsible for the breakdown of security at the Trump Butler rally where President Trump was shot and another man was murdered.
Senator Hawley: Is that the person who is in charge of the interoperability of radio frequencies between local law enforcement and secret service? Has that person been relieved of duty?
Acting Director Rowe: No, Senator, because interoperability is a challenge, is a greater challenge than just one person. On that day, we had a counterpart system. It failed spectacularly.
Senator Hawley: As the person who decided, who made the decision to send Donald Trump onto stage knowing that you had a security situation, has that person been relieved of duty?
Acting Director Rowe: No, sir, they haven’t.
Senator Hawley: Has the person who decided not to pull the former President off of stage when you knew that, in your words, the locals were working a serious security situation, has that person been relieved of duty?
Acting Director Rowe: No, sir. Again, I refer you back to my original answer that we are investigating this through a mission assurance As opposed to zeroing in on one or two individuals.
Senator Hawley: What more do you need to investigate to know what the decision-making process was? What more do you need to investigate to know that there were critical enough failures that some individuals ought to be held accountable? What more do you need to know?
Acting Director Rowe: What I need to know is exactly what happened, and I need my investigators to do their job, and I cannot- A lot of people didn’t do their jobs. I cannot put my thumb on the scale.
Senator Hawley: Otherwise- What do you mean put your thumb on the scale?
Acting Director Rowe: You’re asking me, Senator, to completely make a rush to judgment about somebody failing. I acknowledge this was a failure of the secret service.
Senator Hawley: Is it not prima facia that somebody has failed? The former president was shot.
Acting Director Rowe: Sir, this could have been our Texas schoolbook depository. I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days, just like you have.
Senator Hawley: Then fire somebody to hold them accountable.
Acting Director Rowe: I will tell you, Senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted.
Senator Hawley: I can’t believe that you are… Unfairly persecuted! We got people who are dead!
