Secret Service will participate in independent review of Trump assassination attempt, director says

The US Secret Service plans to “fully participate” in an independent review of the assassination attempt on former President Trump, director Kimberly Cheatle said in a statement. declaration Monday.

Cheatle said the agency would also work with Congress “on any oversight actions” the committees plan to take.

“The Secret Service is working with all federal, state and local agencies involved to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can prevent an incident like this from happening again,” Cheatle said.

“We understand the importance of the independent review announced yesterday by President Biden and will participate fully. We will also work with the appropriate congressional committees on any oversight action,” she added.

The statement comes amid growing questions about how a gunman managed to get close enough to the former president to wound him with an AR-style rifle at Trump’s rally on Saturday – when a bullet grazed Trump’s ear and he was immediately taken off stage by the Secret Service. agents.

The FBI said Sunday that the shooter — identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — appears to have acted alone and there was no known ideological motive behind what authorities call an assassination attempt.

The incident marked one of the most significant lapses in Secret Service security since former President Reagan was shot in 1981.

Biden on Sunday said he directed an independent review of security at the rally and called for cooler heads to prevail after the shocking event.

Members of Congress also called for immediate hearings into the incident, as some called for Cheatle’s resignation.

“The severity of this security breach and frightening moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said in a letter Sunday to the DHS secretary. . Alejandro Mayorkas.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story