It seems the Secret Service and FBI have managed to turn protecting a former president into a full-blown sitcom. Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate will take the hot seat on Tuesday before the Senate’s Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. Their mission? To explain how they managed to let a 20-year-old with a grudge, Thomas Mathew Crooks, get dangerously close to former President Donald Trump and open fire during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Let’s unpack this fiasco: Crooks managed to access a rooftop a mere 150 yards from Trump and fire several shots. How did this happen? Despite a supposedly robust security plan, Crooks could operate a drone outside the security perimeter for 11 minutes. He was flagged as suspicious twice and even spotted on the roof before he started shooting. Yet, he still managed to fire eight shots before a Secret Service countersniper put an end to his rampage.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) made it clear that this hearing is all about exposing the glaring security lapses that allowed this attack to unfold. According to Durbin, the shooter’s activities were well-known but slipped through the cracks. The Secret Service and FBI appear to be juggling blame. Still, the bottom line is that their security apparatus failed spectacularly.
Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), a member of the Homeland Security committee, has been vocal about the systemic failures within these agencies. In an interview with The Daily Wire, he criticized the lack of coordination between the Secret Service and local law enforcement. Marshall questioned why the Secret Service ignored the expertise of local officers who knew the community inside and out. “Time and time again, we see three-letter agencies and their bureaucratic processes and political biases fail our communities,” he said. “This is a top-down systemic failure and culture plaguing these agencies and must be addressed.”
In a final twist of this tragic comedy, the House has launched its investigation, with a task force now spearheading the inquiry. Last week, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down after facing intense scrutiny from lawmakers over her role in the security debacle.
As we await answers from Rowe and Abbate, one thing is clear: when it comes to safeguarding high-profile figures, our three-letter agencies seem to be starring in their security drama—a drama that’s anything but amusing.
