House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has issued a subpoena to United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, demanding her testimony before the committee regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania last week. The assassination attempt on Trump, who is currently the Republican nominee for president, represents a significant failure of the agency’s core mission and warrants congressional oversight.
Comer wrote to Cheatle in a letter stating that the Oversight Committee is investigating the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on Trump and is subpoenaing her to appear at a public hearing on July 22, 2024, titled ‘Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump.’ Despite allowing Cheatle to speak with the media, both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secret Service have failed to provide assurances regarding her appearance at the Oversight Committee’s scheduled hearing, necessitating a subpoena.
The committee initially sent a written request for Cheatle’s voluntary attendance at a public hearing on July 22, 2024. Afterward, DHS officials appear to have intervened, putting her attendance in question and resulting in a lack of transparency and failure to cooperate with the Committee, further calling into question her ability to lead the Secret Service.
On the day of the assassination attempt, Thomas Matthew Crooks was flagged at a security screening after doors opened at 1:00 p.m., as he was found carrying a magnetometer and a range finder, tools often used by long-distance shooters. An hour before the attempted assassination, Crooks was spotted around the American Glass Research (AGR) complex by a law enforcement officer.
At least 30 minutes before the assassination attempt, a different law enforcement officer called in to authorities that a suspicious person was scoping the area and grounds of the rally. A member of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit stationed inside the AGR complex noticed Crooks scoping out a roof near the rally and calls it in at 26 minutes before the assassination attempt, even sending a photo of Crooks to command.
Nine minutes before the assassination attempt, Trump took the stage at 6:02 p.m., while Crooks remained on the ground near the AGR complex. Sometime after 6:02 p.m., Crooks scaled the AGR complex and fired his first shot at Trump. After firing a total of eight shots at Trump and the rally crowd, two shots were fired at Crooks—one from a member of the Secret Service.
It is suspected that Crooks had inside help from the head of the Secret Service and leaders of the Biden administration to carry out this assassination attempt. Pennsylvania State Police rushed the AGR complex building and cleared it from inside within 16 seconds of Crooks firing his first shot at Trump. The Oversight Committee will continue investigating the incident, focusing on the failures in security and communication that led to this attempted assassination.