Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was among the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans who sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) requesting that he organize a committee hearing on the circumstances leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
We need to hear from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on how this could have even happened in the first place, along with the FBI Director and DHS Secretary. @LindseyGrahamSC
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 15, 2024
Trump was grazed by a single bullet in his upper right ear in what is formally being investigated as a failed assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Minutes after Trump took the stage in Butler at approximately 6:13 p.m. on Saturday, a suspected shooter – who has since been identified as 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the venue.
Crooks, who shot and killed one spectator and injured three others including the former president, was fatally shot by Secret Service personnel.
The Republican members of the Judiciary Committee call for a hearing into the attempted assassination comes as there have been numerous calls for resignations at the Secret Service over its response to the shooting as well as its overall preparation for the campaign rally.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction and oversight authority over the United States Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Republican members called on Durbin to invite each head of the three federal agencies to testify at a hearing on the attempted assassination.
“In light of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump and the murder and injury of other attendees at a peaceful political event, we urgently request that you hold a hearing into the circumstances that led to this tragedy. We further request that you invite Director Kimberly Cheatle of the United States Secret Service, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security, and Director Christopher Wray of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as witnesses,” the Republicans wrote to Durbin.
The Republicans added that while they are “grateful” for the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies that responded to the shooting, the Judiciary Committee “must get to the bottom of how the would-be assassin was able to access a nearby rooftop with a rifle and a line of sight to President Trump.”
“The Committee must fulfill its responsibility to investigate this thoroughly and publicly to understand how this happened and how it can be prevented in the future. The sanctity of our elections, the safety of our candidates, and the peaceful transition of power in our Republic demand nothing less,” the Republicans said.
“Our hearts are broken, and our prayers are with those murdered and injured by this senseless violence. Chair Durbin, we hope to work with you to investigate this matter publicly, and to bring answers and confidence in our system to the American people,” the lawmakers added.
In addition to Blackburn, the letter to Durbin was led by Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and signed by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
“We need to hear from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on how this could have even happened in the first place, along with the FBI Director and DHS Secretary,” Blackburn said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Senator Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
Hearings are overrated. When was the last time any real action came from one?
All of these hearings are like the Oscars for the DC crowd.
Never any charges and never any arrests and back to business as usual for DC.