Congress quickly launches investigation into Trump assassination attempt

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional committees are rapidly investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that also left one rally attendee dead and two others seriously injured.

Lawmakers are dismayed that the attacker was able to open fire from a rooftop just 150 meters from the former president. President Joe Biden has also ordered an independent review of security measures at the rally.

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A look at some of the proceedings Monday as lawmakers sought to ensure their committees would play a leading role in the various follow-up investigations.

House of Representatives committee plans first hearing

The first hearing on the shooting is scheduled for next Monday, July 22, with U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

“The U.S. intelligence mission is designed to deliver a surefire outcome. Yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killing an innocent victim and harming others,” said committee Republican Chairman James Comer.

Comer said lawmakers are grateful to Secret Service agents for acting quickly to protect Trump, “but questions remain about how a rooftop near President Trump could remain unsecured.”

Comer’s panel is not the only House committee taking action.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he provide the plan to secure the venue’s grounds, any communications about Trump’s security reinforcements, and materials used to brief President Biden on the assassination attempt.

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“The gravity of this security failure and this terrifying moment in our nation’s history cannot be underestimated,” Green wrote in his letter, which also includes a request for committee members to be briefed by July 22 at the latest.

Senate committees comment

The chairmen of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced on Monday that they will also launch an investigation.

First, they demand that the US Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI be informed. This will be followed by a public hearing and the submission of documents.

In a letter to Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the senators said they wanted to understand how the shooter was able to get so close to Trump and what steps the department was taking to “strengthen protections for presidential candidates and ensure the security of the election.”

Lawmakers also want to know what additional security requests have been made by Trump’s campaign or security team since November 15, 2022.

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Democratic committee chairman Senator Gary Peters and ranking Republican Rand Paul said members should be briefed before July 25, while a hearing is sought as soon as possible, but no later than August 1.

“This committee has a duty to get to the bottom of the failures of Saturday and before, no matter how inconvenient it is for the government,” Paul said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”

Committee members also stressed that the investigation would be bipartisan, as MPs from both parties had called for.

“If we are to move forward, we must come together as Americans, reject baseless conspiracy theories on both sides, and focus on fact-based efforts to obtain all available information and take responsibility to ensure this never happens again,” said Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada).

Meanwhile, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have written a letter to the panel’s chairman, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), requesting a hearing with Cheatle, Mayorkas and Wray as witnesses.

“Our hearts are broken and our prayers are with those killed and injured in this senseless violence,” the Republicans wrote. “Chairman Durbin, we hope to work with you to publicly investigate this matter and give the American people answers and confidence in our system.”