WASHINGTON — A little more than a week after Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her role as director of the Secret Service, newly appointed acting Director Ronald Rowe testified during a joint oversight hearing Tuesday alongside Paul Abbate, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“The attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump, on Saturday, July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a failure on multiple levels," Rowe said in his opening remarks.
Those shots that shook the nation have since been followed by a relentless pursuit for answers.
“I have taken, and will continue to take, immediate steps to ensure we do not repeat those failures," Rowe said.
As acting director, Rowe is now in charge of 7,800 special agents, officers, administrative staff and more. He steps into the role with 25 years of experience working with the Secret Service.
He said he cannot defend why that roof, where 20-year-old Matthew Crooks aimed and fired at Trump, was not better secured.
“Neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams nor members of the former president's security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm," he said.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, tried to understand why that was the case Tuesday.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the latter committee, asked, "How did that site survey get approved when it was so clear that that was a major threat from that building?”
Rowe tried his best to give context to the operation through several visual exhibits.
"The gold arrow indicates where the shooter fired from. Why was the assailant not seen, when we were told that building was going to be covered?" Rowe responded.
Eventually, Rowe came to an ultimate conclusion.
“I could not and I will not and I cannot understand why there was not better coverage, or at least somebody looking at that roofline when that’s where they were posted," he said.
Peters raised another concern, saying local law enforcement in Butler, PA, told his staff they had no way of communicating with Secret Service. According to the information he was given, there were 30 seconds between them reporting a man on the roof and shots ringing out.
“The only thing we had was that locals were working an issue at the 3 o’ clock, which would’ve been the former president's right-hand side, which is where the shots came," Rowe said. "Nothing about a man on a roof. Nothing about a man with a gun. None of that information ever made it over our net.”
Rowe promised change in communication and said anyone who violated policies would be held accountable.
This comes as Peters's name has reportedly been raised as a potential dark horse candidate for Kamala Harris's pick for vice president.
FOX 17 reached out to Peters's office for comments on those reports. His team said, "The Vice President has many strong options for her running mate and we want to respect her process."
We'll likely find out who she selects in the next week.
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