Secret Service agents assured Butler County, Pennsylvania, law enforcement that they would secure the building from which Thomas Crooks shot former President Trump and others on July 13 during an outdoor rally, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa’s investigation.
Investigation Highlights Security Failures
“Butler County law enforcement officials stated that at separate times during the walkthrough, when they reiterated their concerns to the agents and counter sniper about securing the AGR complex buildings, the agents responded: ‘we will take care of it,’” Grassley’s office disclosed in a Tuesday letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
During the July rally, Trump was shot in the ear, resulting in one attendee killed and two others critically injured. Authorities later found that Crooks had positioned himself atop a nearby building and was known to law enforcement who had observed him prior to the event.
Senator Grassley Demands Accountability
Grassley unveiled new allegations that the Secret Service committed to securing the building Crooks fired from. He questioned Rowe on the validity of Butler County officials’ claims and inquired about the measures taken to secure the AGR complex buildings.
“In the weeks following the first assassination attempt,” Grassley noted.
Rowe told senators during a hearing, “what was communicated is that the locals had a plan and that they had been there before,” referring to the roof of the AGR building where Crooks fired his shots.
This statement was directly contradicted by law enforcement officials during interviews with Grassley’s staff.
Secret Service’s Response to Allegations
Grassley’s investigation also revealed that the Secret Service agents promised to secure the AGR complex area during a July 11 walkthrough preparing for the rally. Law enforcement officials claimed they alerted the agents multiple times about their concerns.
The Republican senator reiterated his numerous information requests to the Secret Service, highlighting that at least two resulted in responses stating, “that it would not provide responses to my requests due to other ongoing investigations and reviews.”
“That’s unacceptable and fails to take into consideration Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct independent oversight. It also flies in the face of your congressional testimony about responding to Congress,” Grassley charged.
Ongoing Probe into Multiple Assassination Attempts
Grassley’s independent investigation is examining several incidents, including the July 13 assassination attempt, a recently uncovered plot by alleged Iranian agent Asif Merchant to assassinate a politician or U.S. official—potentially Trump—and the second assassination attempt on the former president in Florida on Sunday.
A Secret Service spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “The U.S. Secret Service is cooperating with a wide range of reviews and investigations related to the attempted assassination on Former President Donald Trump. This includes multiple Congressional investigations, including inquiries by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the Senate, and a special bipartisan task force in the House of Representatives. Since July 13, we have provided more than 2,800 pages of responsive documentation to these entities and have made our employees available for interviews as requested. On Sept. 12, Acting Director Ron Rowe briefed members of U.S. House and Senate committees regarding the agency’s mission assurance investigation. Given the volume of requests, the jurisdiction of requesters, and the finite capacity of resources and staff to respond, the U.S. Secret Service is prioritizing our responses to those listed above.”
The service did not respond to whether the allegation is true.
