Secret Service director subpoenaed to testify about Trump assassination attempt

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee issued a subpoena for U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear before the committee about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, calling the action necessary due to an alleged "lack of transparency and failure to cooperate."

Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky issued the subpoena Wednesday, calling for Cheatle to appear for a public hearing on Monday titled "Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump." 

As the name suggests, the hearing will focus on the assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend that left the former president slightly injured. Two event attendees were also injured in the shooting, and one man lost his life. 

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"The protective mission of the Secret Service is to 'play a critical role in protecting U.S. and visiting world leaders, safeguarding U.S. elections through protection of candidates and nominees, and ensuring the security of key facilities and major, national-level events,'" Comer stated in a letter attached to the subpoena.

"The assassination attempt of the former President and current Republican nominee for president represents a total failure of the agency's core mission and demands Congressional oversight," the document continued.

According to Comer, the committee formally requested the Secret Service director to attend Monday's hearing last Saturday, followed by a second request a few days later. The letter says that the Secret Service initially "committed to [Cheatle's] attendance" before the Department of Homeland Security allegedly intervened. 

Comer asserted that Cheatle's attendance is now in question, claiming that after this intervention, "there have been no meaningful updates or information shared with the Committee."

"The lack of transparency and failure to cooperate with the Committee on this pressing matter by both DHS and the Secret Service further calls into question your ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the attached subpoena compelling your appearance before the Oversight Committee," Comer wrote. 

Cheatle expressed her willingness to testify about the assassination attempt and that she respects President Joe Biden's order to review the security at the event, The Associated Press reported. Zephranie Buetow, an assistant secretary at Homeland Security, said in a separate statement that the department was "disappointed that the Committee rushed to issue a subpoena," but Cheatle is open to testifying. 

The DHS's Inspector General announced Wednesday that it has also opened an investigation into the Secret Service's actions at the time of the attempted assassination, according to The AP.

Questions continue to surface about how 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks could climb a rooftop near the rally and take several shots at the former president.

U.S. Senators held a half-hour conference call with Cheatle, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate on Wednesday. 

According to The Hill, senators were informed the Secret Service flagged Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious hours before he shot at Trump from the rooftop.

The senators were told Crooks visited the rally site on July 7 and the morning of the event to scout the location. A law enforcement officer eventually spotted the shooter when he was on the roof the day of the assassination attempt before climbing onto the roof of another building, The Hill reported. 

On Monday, the FBI announced that it had successfully unlocked Crooks' phone, and the agency is continuing to investigate the shooter's electronic devices to determine a motive for his actions. 

Investigators have not uncovered whether Crooks' actions were ideologically motivated, but it is known that the shooter was a registered Republican who also donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a group that rallies Democrats to vote.