The House task force on the two assassination attempts on President-elect Trump is set to gather for its final hearing, ahead of the release of its highly anticipated report. US Secret Service (USSS) Director Ronald Rowe will testify before lawmakers, and the task force will then meet behind closed doors to finalize its report.
Task force chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., emphasized the importance of restoring public confidence in federal law enforcement. “What we’re working on more than anything else is the public has to know what happened that day because there’s still a lot of confusion about it,” he said. “When we look at Secret Service, that’s always the elite of the elite. So, I think what we’re trying to do is establish the situation where… we can restore that confidence.”
The task force was established in response to two assassination attempts on Trump during his presidential transition period. The first occurred during a rally in Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on the event, injuring Trump and others, and killing one attendee. The second attempt occurred at Trump’s golf course in Florida, where USSS agents opened fire on a 58-year-old man who had a rifle aimed at the president-elect.
The incidents prompted heavy scrutiny of the USSS and its security practices, leading to the ouster of USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle. Acting Director Ronald Rowe will testify before the task force on Thursday. Kelly praised Rowe, saying, “From the very start, he said, ‘Look, it was entirely our fault. This is the worst state the Secret Service has ever had.'”
The task force’s final report is expected to be released around December 13, the “due date” for producing the results of its investigation. In its interim report, the panel detailed “a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners before the rally.” USSS personnel at the event “did not give clear guidance” to state and local authorities about how to manage security outside their hard perimeter, and there was no central meeting between USSS and law enforcement agencies supporting them the morning of the rally.