Senator Marshall Grills Secret Service Acting Director on Assassination Attempt and Widespread Security Failures on July 13th 

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. questioned Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Committee hearing to discuss and examine the security failures that allowed an assassination attempt on President Trump and killed an innocent man, Corey Comperatore.

You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full questioning.

Highlights from Senator Marshall’s questioning include:

On Why the Building the Shooter Used Wasn’t in the Security Zone: 

Senator Marshall: Director Rowe, there was probably ten buildings within sniper range of President Trump on that afternoon. Why was the building being used by the sniper, not in the security zone?

Director Rowe: That’s a question that I’ve asked Senator, there was a decision that we were going to construct the site and it was going to maintain within the Butler farm site, Butler farm show site, that building that AGR was right on the curtilage of our outer perimeter. And it’s something that I again, having been there and walked it, I had a hard time understanding.

Senator Marshall: There’s no protocol that says anything within 300, 500 yards direct line to  the president should be in or out of the security zone? There’s not a protocol that describes that?

Director Rowe: So Senator, what we try to do is we try to either control the high ground or mitigate line of sight concerns. 

On President Trump’s Team being Denied Additional Security: 

Senator Marshall: You’ve stated that on multiple occasions, President Trump’s team was denied more of a detail, more assets, who denies that? Who’s the person that denies that, generally speaking?

Director Rowe: Senator there, there’s a process, it, again, there was a conversation had with the detail – 

Senator Marshall: There’s got to be a buck stop – there’s gotta be someone – who is the person? Is it a level within the D.C. agencies? Is there someone in the Pittsburgh office who denies it?

Director Rowe: It has nothing to do with the Pittsburgh office – it is a conversation between not only the detail, field office…. 

Senator Marshall: I don’t want to know the conversation. I want to know who makes the decision. 

On Cooperation from Local and Federal Law Enforcement: 

Senator Marshall: So did your people meet with local law enforcement the day of the assassination attempt? 

Director Rowe: Yes.

Senator Marshall: Okay. And you realize that the local law enforcement says no, that that meeting never happened. And that’s why we need to get these people in to talk to us. And this is why the FBI needs to be speaking up sooner than later and say that meeting did or didn’t happen, it happened. Surely there’s some type of documentation of that meeting one way or the other? Is there documentation of that meeting?

Director Rowe: So Senator, I can tell you that what you’re referring to is the counter sniper team seconded to Butler ESU. Our personnel met with the team lead from Butler ESU. And they discussed areas of concern, areas of responsibility, and that that did in fact happen at the site on that day.