Sen. Chuck Grassley asks for ‘complete transparency’ in Trump shooting investigation

Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is calling on the Secret Service and other federal agencies to release information about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Grassley, a Republican who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service asking which protocols were followed and how authorities allowed a gunman to climb onto a roof less than 500 feet from the former president.

“At this time, the lack of information from your agencies is unacceptable,” Grassley wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday. “You owe Congress and the American people full and complete transparency on how this tragedy could possibly occur.”

Leaders of the FBI and the Secret Service planned to brief members of Congress in a private meeting Wednesday to update them on the investigation amid questions about the security practices that preceded the attack.

The DHS Office of Inspector General announced Wednesday it had begun an investigation of the events surrounding the assassination attempt.

In a brief description of the project, the agency said it would “evaluate the United States Secret Service's (Secret Service) process for securing former President Trump's July 13, 2024 campaign event.”

According to law enforcement, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., crawled onto the roof of a building near Trump’s rally and opened fire during his speech Saturday. While Trump survived the attack with an injury to his ear, one rally attendee was killed and two were critically injured. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has since said that there were local police inside the building who were responsible for its security. Rally attendees have said in the aftermath they had tried to alert police of the presence of the shooter shortly before he fired.

In his letter to Cheatle and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Grassley pointed to past security lapses by the Secret Service, including in 2014 when a man jumped the White House fence and entered the building before being stopped by security officers.

Grassley asked if action had been taken based on recommendations made in response to those incidents and how often the agency had reviewed and practiced its security protocols.

“As USSS stated in its most recent Secret Service Annual report, there ‘is little margin for error in the Secret Service mission,’” Grassley wrote. “The USSS must provide a complete and thorough accounting to the American people to assure them that the Secret Service is correcting its past problems and is fully and effectively carrying out its core mission: protection.”

Grassley asked the agency to turn over records between the Secret Service and other law enforcement related to the rally, including security plans and any knowledge of threats before the rally.

He also asked for details on the agency’s protocols for presidential events, training of agents who were present, and whether the agency knew about Crooks before the shooting.

Grassley wrote a separate letter, also Tuesday, to FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking their departments to provide rolling updates on the investigation.

Grassley asked for all records between the FBI and other law enforcement related to the rally and if the FBI had been aware of any threat to Trump before the rally. He also asked if the FBI was aware of the gunman’s identity before July 13.

“As I stated to DHS and the USSS, you owe Congress and the American people full and complete transparency in this matter,” he wrote.

Grassley also joined Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week in asking committee chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to call Cheatle, Mayorkas and Wray to testify before the committee.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said Wednesday he will create a special House task force to investigate the shooting. Also Wednesday, House Oversight and Accountability Committee chair James Comer issued a subpoena compelling Cheatle to appear before the committee Monday.