Kentucky senator on the Senate’s report of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the release of a report regarding the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania one year ago.
Ahead of the assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, the U.S. Secret Service denied multiple requests from Trump's Secret Service detail to bolster his security apparatus during his 2024 presidential campaign, according to a Senate report released Sunday.
The report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs found that the Secret Service "denied or left unfulfilled at least 10 requests" from Trump's detail for "additional resources," including an enhanced counter drone system, counter assault team personnel and counter snipers.
On July 13, 2024, a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump from the rooftop of a nearby building during a campaign rally in Butler. The president was grazed in the ear by one of the bullets, while one rallygoer was killed and two others were critically wounded in the shooting.
The gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper. The shooting prompted several investigations into the Secret Service's practices and protocols.
"This report reveals a disturbing pattern of communication failures and negligence that culminated in a preventable tragedy," wrote Senator Paul, who is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, in the report. "What happened was inexcusable and the consequences imposed for the failures so far do not reflect the severity of the situation."
According to Brennan, Senator Paul also said former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle "made false claims under oath" when she said there were no denials.
This prompted Brennan to ask Paul if Cheatle was misled or if he's accusing her for lying, to which Paul said:
"She did not tell the truth. She said that there were no assets that were requested in advance. We found at least four occasions, actually, maybe five occasions, where requests were made. The primary request that was made by both Trump's Secret Service detail, as well as his campaign was for counter-snipers. Counter-snipers were denied until Butler. So, thank God, on that day in Butler County, Pennsylvania, that was the first time he was allowed counter-snipers. If he had not had counter-snipers, that assassin would have popped up again- he did pop up again to continue firing, and that's when he was taken out. But, thank God we had the counter-snipers there. But why were they denied for months and months? When they finally did ask for them, they mysteriously, magically appeared. They found them where they needed them. They just weren't trying hard enough. So, it was a cascade of errors. It was just one error after another. When we talked to the people in charge of security, everybody pointed a finger at someone else. We said, who was responsible for that roof, the roof where the assassin lay with a direct sight line. Nobody wanted responsibility. Everybody said it was somebody else. There was plenty of time to take him off the stage. The suspicious person with the range finder who became the shooter, many times he was spotted by police with suspicion. That should have been enough to take the president off the stage. Even with him on the roof, there was about a three-minute period when he could have been taken from the stage. And yet, no one was fired. Some of these people could be in charge of security for another presidential candidate. And, really, that's a danger that someone...one of the people that were in charge at Butler, could be in charge again. That's not right."
During the interview, Brennan and Paul talked about whether we're going to know the Crooks' motive in the shooting, with Paul saying:
"I think we aren't going to know the motive, and I take that at face value. I know a lot of times when we don't get something and we suspect something, we think government's lying to us. And look, I have my doubts about government on many levels, but I think on this level, they've tried their best and I don't think there's a secret answer that they're not revealing to us. I think they just don't know. What we do know is the failures in security, and that the Corey Comperatore could have possibly been saved by having better security that day. And this boy was seen four hours before the shooting. He was seen again 45 minutes before. Three minutes before the shooting the crowd is chanting, man on a roof, man on a roof. 45 seconds to go as he's assembling his gun. 45 seconds is a long time. Nobody told them to take the president off the stage. Inexcusable, terrible security, but whoever is in charge should have been fired, and really should never be in charge of this type of, or have this type of responsibility again."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Paul, click here.
