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Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., predicted Americans will be “shocked” and “appalled” by the upcoming interim report on the assassination attempt against former President Trump, explicitly referencing security failures.
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe briefed senators on the ongoing investigation in a closed-door meeting on Thursday, with Blumenthal telling Fox News:
“I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president. But I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank, as it should be to them in terms of providing information.”
Despite Sen. Blumenthal’s remarks, other lawmakers, like Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., declined to speculate on how the public might react to the report on the assassination attempt. He told Fox News the following:
“It will be coming out shortly. And it’ll only be an interim report because there’s a lot more information that we need to find. And we hope once this report comes out and we can get the additional information necessary to have a complete report of what happened, as well as steps of what we need to do in the future to make sure that this never happens.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., emphasized that lawmakers want the public to know the report will be conducted in a bipartisan manner, adding that some frustration with Rowe was expressed during Thursday’s meeting. He told Fox News the following:
“He’s making the commitment to, you know, provide more information. But we’re hoping to get this preliminary report out before this work period. So again, we’re on pretty tight time constraints. But again, it’s important people realize we are dedicated to a bipartisan product.”
The Secret Service is facing intense scrutiny over security and communication lapses before the July 13 shooting of Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Assistant Director Michael Plati, who oversaw protection planning for Trump, Biden, Harris, and others, is retiring Friday on his 27th anniversary with the agency. While the Secret Service claims Plati wasn’t forced to retire, rumors are he was encouraged to step down early.
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