WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced the committee will conduct a bipartisan investigation and plan to hold a hearing to examine security failures that led to the attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday. Peters and Paul are requesting an urgent briefing for the members of the committee on the shooting and additional information from U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to be followed by a public hearing. Additional investigative requests for documents and testimony will follow.
“There is no place for political violence in our nation, and Saturday’s shocking attack should never have been allowed to happen,” said Senator Peters. “Our committee is focused on getting all of the facts about the security failures that allowed the attacker to carry out this heinous act of violence that threatened the life of former President Trump, killed at least one person in the crowd, and injured several others.”
“Violence is never acceptable, not on our streets or in our politics. We thank God that President Trump is alive, we mourn with the Comperatore family, and pray for those who were wounded. This committee has an obligation to unearth the truth about the failures on Saturday and before, no matter how inconvenient to the government. We will leave no stone unturned.” said Senator Paul.
The text of Peters and Paul’s letter is available here and copied below.
July 15, 2024
Dear Secretary Mayorkas and Director Wray:
We are gravely concerned by the assassination attempt on former President Trump and the loss of life of an innocent bystander and injuries to several others during a campaign rally in Butler, PA, on Saturday, July 13, 2024. In light of Saturday’s shooting, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (Committee) is initiating a bipartisan investigation into how this was able to occur, what security, personnel, or other failures contributed to the attempt, and steps that must be taken to ensure any mistakes are avoided in the future.
Accordingly, we request that the appropriate representatives of your Departments, including the U.S. Secret Service, provide a briefing to members of the Committee on the security failures that allowed this alarming incident to transpire. Specifically, we would like to understand the security posture at the Trump campaign rally, how the suspect was able to get this close to a Secret Service protectee and cause injury to the protectee, and what steps the Department is taking to increase its protection of presidential candidates and ensure the safety of the election. We also would like information on whether any additional security requests were made by former President Trump’s campaign or protective team since November 15, 2022. This briefing should occur no later than Thursday, July 25, 2024. Additionally, we request you, or your appropriate designee, appear before the Committee in a public hearing on this matter as soon as possible but no later than August 1, 2024.
Finally, we request that you provide the Committee with updates on this incident and the agencies’ responses on a rolling basis. The Committee will be sending additional requests in the near future and we urge you to respond thoroughly and promptly.
Thank you for your attention to this request.
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