Concerns over Secret Service grow ahead of Biden's trip to Austin
U.S. lawmakers are expressing concern and doubt over the Secret Service's ability to protect high-ranking officials as Biden makes his first public appearance outside of Washington since the assassination attempt on Trump.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- President Joe Biden's visit to Austin is his first major public appearance outside of Washington since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The initial trip to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Civil Rights Act was canceled after Trump was reportedly shot in the ear by a 20-year-old gunman.
As the Secret Service works to protect the president in Texas, Congress is opening its own investigation into the "operational failures" that led to the assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally and the death of Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was in the crowd.
"If a 20-year-old kid can get underneath the security platform, think what the foreign adversaries of a hired professional can do," said U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas.
Sessions, who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that grilled the former head of the Secret Service last week, said he has lost confidence in the agency's ability to protect high-ranking officials.
"When it comes down to individuals, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and their families, that threat against them is of a different level. It is of a level that the Secret Service has not been able … they've proven they cannot effectively see the threat and understand where to go," Sessions said.
On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was not observed with a firearm until he was already on the roof within sight of the stage where Trump was speaking.
Wray also told the House Judiciary Committee at least three explosives were found in the shooter's vehicle and home, and investigators found he was flying a drone about 200 yards away from the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, two hours before the event.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned her position on July 22 after hours of testimony and questioning from lawmakers. Both Republicans and Democrats called for the former director to step down and accused her of refusing to provide details about what led up to the shooting.
Cheatle said the agency hoped to complete its internal investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump in 60 days. Austin Congressman Greg Casar, D-Texas, who also sits on the House oversight committee, says that timeline is unacceptable.
"We need the full truth for the American people to see, and then we need to implement reforms based on what was in that report," Casar said. "That means reforms to the secret service, but also reforms to our gun laws."
According to FBI Director Wray, the firearm the shooter used during the assassination attempt was purchased legally, and the shooter was not known previously to the FBI before the incident.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Secret Service have not responded to questions about the scale of the security plan for President Joe Biden's visit to Austin or which agencies are assisting the Secret Service on Monday.