Congress to hold oversight hearing on attempted assassination of Trump

An oversight hearing is expected to be held next week over the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has invited DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI director Christopher Wray, and U.S. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before the committee on July 23.

The request comes after a letter from Chairman Green to Sec. Mayorkas the day after the rally shooting, which killed one spectator and injured others, including the former president.

"The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated. No assassination attempt has come so close to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981," the letter dated July 14 reads in part.

Since the shooting Saturday, the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies have come under scrutiny over security concerns. 

The biggest criticism agencies face right now is how a threat was able to come within a line of sight of the principal – in this case, Trump – at roughly 150 yards, explained Rohin Sharma.

Sharma is the senior Middle East and terrorism analyst for the U.S. Army and an adjunct professor at George Washington University, serving as a faculty member in the Homeland Security Program.

"This was a serious failure. The principal, the largest purpose of the Secret Service is to protect these principals. Someone was, on their watch, shot at and wounded," Sharma said Tuesday. "Not having some sort of independent review would almost be tantamount to negligence. There will be reviews from the congressional level and federal levels. They all are necessary given the scope of this failure."

At a press briefing this week, Sec. Mayorkas announced an independent review into actions of law enforcement before, during, and after the shooting would be launched "in days." 

The process of deciding who would lead the review is ongoing, Mayorkas said.

"The men and women of the Secret Service have one of the solemn and difficult jobs in government. Their work requires tremendous sacrifice, risk, and bravery," he said. 

Sharma added that hearings and reviews will likely look into the possible gaps that existed between federal, state, and local partners at the rally that were exploited by the 20-year-old shooter identified as Thomas Crooks. 

A search of Crooks’ car and home in Pennsylvania has been completed, according to the FBI. The agency is actively investigating a motive for the shooting and has reportedly interviewed nearly 100 people, including witnesses and law enforcement personnel.

"I would want to wait until the full investigation to get actual lapse, but I will say they usually do work well between state, local, and federal officials," Sharma said. "But that appears to the lapse. There appears to be a seam in the site security here that was not as smooth as it might be or as it should have been. Certainly not as smooth if it was just one agency running the entire security of this area."

A statement from the U.S. Secret Service posted overnight Tuesday praised the work of local partners, adding any suggestions the USSS is blaming local law enforcement agencies for the shooting is "simply not true."