- The House Assassination Task Force met Thursday for their final hearing
During a hearing into the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump, a passionate shouting match broke out between acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and a Republican lawmaker.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) struck a chord when he pressed Rowe about security measures put in place to protect Trump and also Vice President Kamala Harris.
It sparked a bitter exchange between the two men at Thursday’s hearing, which was expected to focus on the security failures that led to the deadly shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
But two months later, on September 11, it quickly turned into what Fallon saw as another security problem.
Fallon said Rowe should have been physically stationed closer to both Trump and Harris when they both attended a September 11 commemoration at Ground Zero.
When asked why he was out of range, Rowe insisted he was just out of sight.
“And that’s the day we remember the more than 3,000 people who died on September 11,” he said, beginning to raise his voice.
“I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center,” Rowe continued.
When Fallon tried to intervene, Rowe wouldn’t budge, causing the congressman to scream.
‘I’m not asking you that. I’m asking if you were the special agent in charge?! It wasn’t,” Fallon charged.
“Don’t invoke 9/11 for political purposes, Congressman,” Rowe was heard shouting over a barrage of crotch shouts.
‘I’m trying to ask a question. Don’t try to bully me!’ Fallon shouted and pointed at the witness.
“You’re out of line!” Rowe shot back.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) got into a heated shouting match with acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe during the House Assassination Task Force hearing on Thursday
“Don’t invoke 9/11 for political purposes, Congressman,” Rowe shouted at Fallon over a barrage of crotch shouts after lawmakers this year showed an image of the acting director at the Ground Zero agency
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, his then-colleague Senator JD Vance, Senator Chuck Schumer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg all lined up together for the September 11 service in Manhattan this year.
It was just months after two separate assassination attempts on Trump — including the call to get too close for comfort in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed the then-candidate’s right ear as he stood on stage for a rally.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned from her position amid the backlash over the assassination attempt. Rowe was elevated to acting director of the USSS.
The bipartisan House Assassination Task Force was created to investigate the failures that allowed a would-be assassin to come within a few hundred yards of the former president as he campaigned for a second term.
Although Rowe was not in charge on the day of the July assassination attempt, he is now facing questions from Congress about the security problems and what is being done now to fix them.
The final meeting of the task force is Thursday.