The head of the Secret Service sparred with a Republican lawmaker at a contentious congressional hearing into security failings that led to the deadly assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump.
Ronald Rowe took pointed questions from both sides of the aisle about how the agency could have allowed a teen gunman to open fire on Trump, lightly wounding him and killing one of his supporters at a July campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
The hearing turned nasty when Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) accused Rowe of cozying up to President Biden at a 9/11 remembrance event in what he suggested was an effort to curry favor and win the top Secret Service position.
“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes,” yelled Rowe, who responded to Ground Zero after the 2001 terror attacks.
“Don’t try and bully me,” Fallon shot back.
Rowe took over the reins of the Secret Service, at least temporarily, after former director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down amid widespread criticism of lax security at the rally where Trump was shot. Trump has not announced who might get the job permanently.
Rowe insisted the Secret Service is “reorganizing and reimagining” its culture following the shocking Trump shooting.
He promised accountability for what he called the agency’s “abject failure” to secure the rally, where a gunman managed to climb atop a nearby building that offered a clear line of sight to Trump and unload several shots.
Trump was wounded in the ear, while supporter Corey Comperatore was killed in the attack. Two others were wounded before the gunman was felled by a Secret Service sharpshooter.
“It is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure,” Rowe said.
The panel is expected to release a report into the Trump assassination effort by next week at the latest.
Rowe was repeatedly asked by flabbergasted lawmakers how glaring and elementary security failings were allowed to happen, including communications difficulties between the Secret Service and local law enforcement, as well as the lax security of the rally perimeter.
Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, said it was “just wild to me” that the Secret Service was using inefficient text messages and emails to communicate in real time about deadly threats.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) called the agency’s conduct “lackadaisical.”
“It speaks of an apathy or a complacency that is really unacceptable,” Green said.
Another apparent attempt on Trump’s life in September added to questions about the agency’s effectiveness.
The gunman in that case lay in wait for Trump at his golf course in Florida, but a Secret Service agent spotted a firearm poking through bushes and thwarted the slay try. He was later arrested nearby and is awaiting trial.
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