(Bloomberg Government) -- A top House Republican is demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the Secret Service’s actions Saturday at the Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was shot.
Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) on Sunday sent a letter, first obtained by Bloomberg Government, pledging “rigorous oversight” and asking Mayorkas for information on the perimeter security protocols at the site of the campaign rally and whether Trump had adequate protection from the Secret Service. Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) also sent a letter to the agency Sunday calling the event a security failure and demanding more information.
The statements add to growing calls for answers from members of Congress into what’s now being investigated as the closest assassination attempt of a president or presidential candidate since that of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security and is tasked with protecting former presidents and major candidates for the position.
Green plans to hold a hearing to investigate the shooting, including the Secret Service’s actions. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee has also announced plans for a hearing featuring Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also promised a “full investigation” into the shooting, and said Homeland officials, including Cheatle, would be called to testify.
“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Green wrote in the letter.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi on Sunday disputed allegations from Trump supporters that a Trump representative requested additional security resources and was denied.
“This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” he said on X.
Trump-aligned America First Legal sought records this weekend on how DHS handled any Trump campaign requests for increased security, citing unconfirmed reporting from right-wing media.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen M. Gilmer in Washington at egilmer@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michaela Ross at mross@bgov.com; Angela Greiling Keane at agreilingkeane@bloombergindustry.com; John Hewitt Jones at jhewittjones@bloombergindustry.com
(Updates with additional reporting throughout.)
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