Acting Secret Service chief seen as 'cagey,' 'not credible'

FPI / August 7, 2024

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe insisted at a Friday afternoon press conference that the agency tasked with protecting former President Donald Trump at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania had no knowledge that would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks had a gun until he opened fire at 6:11 p.m.

Rowe's credibility was immediately called into question based on such responses and the manner with which he delivered them.

Newsmax TV host Greg Kelly leveled with his audience: "Look, I found him really cagey, quite frankly, not credible, and he was using every bureaucratic trick in the book to evade responsibility. At least that's how I read it."

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley posted to X: "But Secret Service was IN CHARGE of this event, and in charge of local law enforcement. USSS lack of knowledge about events transpiring over nearly *two hours* at their own event is inexcusable."

"It is clear that the American people still have not been given the full story," Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement in response to Rowe's press conference. "From the beginning, rally attendees and people with cellphone footage seem to have been more invested in stopping the shooter and figuring out what happened than the Secret Service itself. It is shocking that more officials have not been held accountable."

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said: "I do not believe acting Director Rowe was forthcoming, as the government rarely admits to being wrong. I suspect that Rowe knows precisely who was responsible for this massive security failure and that this is clearly a cover-up. We need a detailed investigation and transcribed interviews to uncover the truth."

Rowe stated on Friday: "The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13. This was a mission failure. The sole responsibility of our agency is to make sure our protectees are never put in danger. We fell short of that in Butler, and I'm working to make sure that this failure does not happen again."

Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Fox News Digital: "When the Secret Service fails to accomplish its mission, people die. The tragic events that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, were a direct consequence of their failure, and the agency must listen to the concerns of every whistleblower that comes forward. We will be watching to ensure the Secret Service’s internal investigation results in real accountability."

On Monday, Hawley revealed that whistleblowers have come forward to say that the lead site agent in charge of the Butler rally was known to be inexperienced, ineffective and not up to the job and the agent failed to implement basic security protocols on July 13.

"Yet this person is STILL on active duty," Hawley said in a letter to Rowe. "Why?"

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"One whistleblower with direct knowledge of the event alleges to my office that this lead site agent was well-known in campaign circles as lacking competence and experience in the role. This specific allegation follows similar public reports that this agent was 'new' to the local field office and had 'relatively little experience'. The whistleblower further alleges that this individual was, as part of securing the site, specifically responsible for line-of-sight concerns," the letter states.

Hawley's letter adds that another whistleblower alleged that the lead agent at the Butler rally made poor choices that also compromised the overall security of the event where Trump was nearly killed by would-be assassin Crooks and where rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed while shielding his family. "Campaign material such as flags were permitted to be placed around the stage and catwalk used by the former president, despite the fact that these items were typically prohibited because of how they affected the line-of-sight of those agents responsible for identifying threats," the letter gave as an example of a poor decision from the lead agent.

In an interview with Newsmax TV on July 30, RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree, who has broken several stories on the Secret Service in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt, said: "We need to know why no one has been fired, especially who the lead agent, the site agent on the job, who decided that the AGR building was outside the official perimeter. That is a key decision. As well as not putting a Secret Service counter-sniper, not local law enforcement, but a Secret Service counter-sniper on top of that building."

Newsmax TV host Greg Kelly said to Crabtree: "You have this explosive email from a member of the counter-sniper team. I guess he's a sniper for the Secret Service. Let's go through it. He's very angry."

The counter-sniper writes in the email: "I'm not stopping until five high-level supervisors, one down — I guess that's Cheatle — are either fired or removed from their current positions. This agency needs to change. If not now, when? We should all expect another attempt to happen before November. We've exposed our inability to protect our leaders due to our leadership. Secret Service supervisors knew better, and the foot soldiers working made the best of a bad decision."

Kelly continued: "Anything you want to say about this email? I have to bring something else up. Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney, as you may know, really hate Donald Trump. They say he's a threat to democracy and the Constitution. They both have maintained contact with Secret Service agents. Liz Cheney says that in her own book, she was getting information about January 6th, she hired agents on January 6th. I'm just wondering, and Cheatle protected that family. ...."

Crabtree responded: "I have to deal with the facts. My sources are telling me only that Director (Kimberly) Cheatle did not like Donald Trump. They have not said it was a direct political decision to deny him repeated requests for extra security over two years. These requests were coming from the detail of his own team, the innermost ring of his security. They have a lot more explaining to do.

"The National Fraternal Order of Police president just came out with a statement saying he is not happy with acting director Rowe's testimony today and the fact that they were criticizing local law enforcement for doing their job — when they had no intercommunication with local law enforcement on the day of the event. That person did take his eye off the ball. One of the officers left to look for Thomas Crooks and left the post when he should have stayed there. That could have opened up the opportunity for Crooks to fire off his weapon. Certainly, there should have been Secret Service counter-snipers on top of that roof. I'm sure that's being rectified for future events moving forward."

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