Politics
GOP senators react to acting Secret Service Director Rowe’s press conference: 'Clearly a cover-up’
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was among a number of Republican lawmakers who reacted to acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe’s press conference Friday about the assassination attempt on former President Trump at a rally in July. Lee said he believes there’s more to the story than what Rowe told reporters.
“It is clear that the American people still have not been given the full story,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. “From the beginning, rally attendees and people with cellphone footage seem to have been more invested in stopping the shooter and figuring out what happened than the Secret Service itself. It is shocking that more officials have not been held accountable.”
Lee added that he would “not stop hounding” the Secret Service for “this egregious failure.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said there was “clearly a cover-up.”
TRUMP RALLY VIDEO AFFIRMS SECRET SERVICE ‘FAILURE’ AFTER FIGURE SEEN ON ROOF BEFORE SHOOTING: ACTING DIRECTOR
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe addresses reporters’ questions during a news conference Friday. (Fox News )
“I do not believe acting Director Rowe was forthcoming, as the government rarely admits to being wrong,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I suspect that Rowe knows precisely who was responsible for this massive security failure and that this is clearly a cover-up. We need a detailed investigation and transcribed interviews to uncover the truth.”
Only three in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident the Secret Service can keep presidential candidates safe since Trump’s assassination attempt, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital he appreciated Rowe’s willingness to hold the press conference.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee joint hearing Tuesday. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s obvious that this was an epic failure by the leadership of the Secret Service and DHS, whose main responsibility was to protect President Trump at this rally,” Scott said. “Since the shooting, it seemed we got new information from outside sources but nothing from the agencies investigating this failure. So, I appreciate acting Director Rowe’s decision to give an update to the American people in a press conference today, and I encourage him to continue.”
He added that the FBI must follow suit.
“Unless we start getting daily press conferences, conspiracy and rumor will run wild, and trust will permanently disappear,” he said. “The American people still have unanswered questions, and they want to know people are being held accountable for the admitted failures.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital he appreciated Rowe’s willingness to meet with reporters Friday. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital: “When the Secret Service fails to accomplish its mission, people die. The tragic events that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, were a direct consequence of their failure, and the agency must listen to the concerns of every whistleblower that comes forward. We will be watching to ensure the Secret Service’s internal investigation results in real accountability.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Miss., reacted on social media Friday to a reporter writing about Rowe insisting the Secret Service didn’t know the shooter had a gun until he started firing.
“But Secret Service was IN CHARGE of this event, and in charge of local law enforcement,” Hawley wrote on X. “USSS lack of knowledge about events transpiring over nearly *two hours* at their own event is inexcusable.”
TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
During Friday afternoon’s press conference, Rowe gave updates on the investigation into the ill-fated Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying the Secret Service takes “full responsibility” for the security “failure” when Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear.
Former President Trump was shot in the ear while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pa., July 13. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A rallygoer, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting, and two others were critically injured.
“The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13. This was a mission failure. The sole responsibility of our agency is to make sure our protectees are never put in danger. We fell short of that in Butler, and I’m working to make sure that this failure does not happen again,” Rowe said Friday.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he thought there was “clearly a cover-up.” (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He pledged to fully cooperate with congressional oversight investigations and an independent review ordered by President Biden. The Secret Service is also conducting its own internal review.
“If policy violations by Secret Service personnel are identified by the agency’s mission assurance review, those individuals will be held accountable, and they will be held accountable to our fair and thorough disciplinary process,” Rowe said.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Native American voters were key to helping Democrats clinch Arizona in 2020. Though they make up only about 5 percent of the state’s population, they tend to vote heavily Democratic, and their power at the ballot box is growing through grass roots efforts to register and turn out the Native vote.
But in this election, many Native voters say they feel exhausted, disappointed and torn about how to vote. Some were re-energized by Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. But overall it was frustration and anxiety that we heard as we talked with more than four dozen voters around Phoenix and on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, about their concerns.
They worried about Arizona’s increasingly deadly heat. Many voters felt like they had been left out of the state’s growing economy, with unemployment for Native Americans almost double the national average. And they questioned why electricity, running water and good health care were still out of reach on reservations, even after the passage of a huge infrastructure bill in 2021.
Inflation, Immigration and Abortion Hit Close to Home
In interviews, many Native voters said the sting of inflation was even worse on reservations struggling with chronic poverty. People who commute hours to work from their rural homes on the Navajo Nation say they are spending hundreds of dollars more on gas. A loaf of bread at the sole grocery store in their towns can now run them $5.
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Liam Enos, 17, also a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, will cast his first vote in November. He wants to study business in college and is leaning toward Mr. Trump, because he wants the next president to bring more jobs and businesses. “I want to vote for someone who can help our community,” he said.
But Tony Santo, who runs a roadside stand serving fry bread and green chile, said too many people in his life had died of Covid for him to consider supporting the former president. “He disrespected the whole country,” Mr. Santo said.
On some of the most divisive issues facing Americans, Native voters were also split, with issues like immigration and abortion hitting close to home.
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Henrietta Jackson, 54, says she opposes Republican efforts to restrict abortion. At the same time, she is exasperated by how much the campaigns are focused on the issue. “It’s nobody else’s choice,” she said. “What we should be focusing on is getting our country united.”
Maryetta and Henrietta Jackson
With so much at stake, Native voters say they’re ultimately looking for a candidate who can bring answers — and change.
“We depend too much on the government,” said Olson Paddock, a 68-year-old retired nursing-home worker. “I’m pro-Trump. He’s the only one who’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
Sepchedhiosik and Angel Molina
Some who had been flirting with third-party candidates said they were now solidly backing Ms. Harris. Some even said they felt some optimism, including Angel Molina, 20, a member of the Gila River Indian Community.
“All I can do is hope that we will be able to come together,” she said, “and make a good judgment on what the future of our country will look like.”
Donald Trump wants this conversation to be about who is weirder. He wants us debating the merit of adults without children. And I’m sure he is delighted if his remarks questioning the race of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, distract from his connection to Project 2025, the 900-page blueprint for reshaping the government around Trumpism instead of democracy.
We shouldn’t fall for his rope-a-dope routine again.
Opinion Columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and navigating life in America.
On Friday, Harris secured enough delegates in a virtual roll call to earn her party’s nomination. It’s a bit of a formality considering her campaign raised a record $310 million in July, and she’s expected to announce a running mate soon. Still, it is important to mark these moments, if for no other reason than to remind voters of the stakes. Obsessing over Trump’s nonsense is dangerous when there are real things happening.
Back in 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in a final attempt to stop his party from jumping off a cliff, told the crowd at the Republican National Convention: “If you love your country … vote your conscience.… Vote for candidates up and down the ticket you trust to defend our freedom and be faithful to the Constitution.”
Since that night in Cleveland, former President Trump called for the termination of the U.S Constitution (which Cruz denounced), tried to overturn the 2020 election and said he wanted to be a dictator for a day. Rolling Stone reported there are “nearly 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials” in six swing states. Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate because Vance would do what Mike Pence refused to do.
That’s what’s at stake in this election.
The former president’s behavior and rhetoric this week at the conference of the National Assn. of Black Journalists were only recent.
They weren’t new.
He questioned whether Harris is really Black. That’s a parlor trick of his from even before he became the face of the “birther” movement against President Obama. During a 1993 congressional hearing on casino gambling, Trump said the Mashantucket Pequot Nation “don’t look like Indians to me.” He also said that casinos on reservations attract crime and that it wasn’t fair they were exempt from paying taxes because “I like to compete on an equal footing.”
“Nobody is more for the Indians than Donald Trump,” he declared at the time.
Yes, the same Donald Trump who as president used “Pocahontas” as a slur. The same one whose administration was sued by more than 10 tribes to get COVID relief funding allocated to federally recognized tribes. After his attempts to overturn the election failed, Trump told the audience at the 2021 North Carolina Republican convention about “Indians getting paid to vote in certain states, including Arizona and Nevada.”
All accusations, no facts.
Which is why instead of investing too much energy in baseless debates started by Trump and Vance — such as Harris’ race — it’s important to remain focused on what’s really at stake.
For example, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, “can’t you just shoot them?” To be clear, Trump was referring to protesters against police brutality, not the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. At a rally last month, Trump said, “we’re going to give our police their power back and we are going to give them immunity from prosecution.”
That’s what’s at stake.
He keeps telling us.
In his recent rant promising an audience “in four years, you don’t have to vote again,” he added this gem: “I love you Christians; I’m not Christian.”
He touched his chest and smirked like the Cheshire Cat while saying it.
It was a stunning admission, considering the occasion was an event called the “Believers Summit.” Had Trump told a crowd of evangelical voters “I’m not Christian” during the 2016 primary, perhaps he would not have felt compelled to falsify business records to conceal hush money payments to porn stars. Hard to say how the past eight years would have played out if evangelicals had been forced to see Trump for who he really is.
What we do know is Vice President Harris is going to be a Black woman whether Trump wins in November or not. It’s America that won’t be the same if Project 2025 comes to pass. That’s what’s at stake. This is why Trump wants us to talk about the silly things he says, so we don’t focus on all the harmful things he’s planning.
Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision on former President Trump’s immunity claim in the federal election interference case, the matter has been officially returned for a trial.
This is standard court procedure. A month after the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, the case has been formally remanded to the appeals court, which will then return it to Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“ORDERED, on the court’s own motion, that this case be remanded to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion,” the Aug. 2 filing reads.
JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL
Donald Trump arrives to Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
In the coming days, Judge Chutkan is expected to establish a schedule for the parties to discuss the application of the SCOTUS ruling in the ongoing prosecution. Open court hearings are anticipated, after which the judge will determine the extent to which the Special Counsel’s evidence can be used in the trial.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.
SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM
Former President Donald J. Trump is set to face a ruling over his immunity claim at the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. (Donald Trump: Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images | Supreme Court: Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The ruling came shortly after a New York jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation.
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges last summer.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
This is a developing story.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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