Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe is currently testifying before the Senate about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the agency’s failures leading to that attempt, in which one person was killed and two others seriously injured. Rowe has thus far refused to admit that any resources were denied to Trump’s team and has been defensive and cagey under intense questioning.
Senator @TedCruz SLAMS acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. for the Secret Service’s complete failure to answer questions related to the Secret Service denying additional resources to President Trump and RFK Jr.:
“Does the buck stop ANYWHERE?!” pic.twitter.com/CmoB8UsEZJ
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) July 30, 2024
Rowe claims that his agency’s failure wasn’t one of logistics or resources, but rather a failure of imagination.
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe claims that what went wrong on July 13 was a “failure of imagination.”
“A failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees.”pic.twitter.com/rqdJ6Mf94f
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) July 30, 2024
We would all like to live in a world in which people don’t want to do harm to world leaders, but that hasn’t been the case since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Rowe’s statement there is disqualifying on its own.
Rowe’s testimony claiming that Trump wasn’t denied any resources that fateful day in Pennsylvania, but a new report at Real Clear Politics says Rowe was directly involved in these denials:
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe was directly involved in denying additional security resources and personnel, including counter snipers, to former President Trump’s rallies and events – despite repeated requests by the agents assigned to Trump’s detail in the two years leading up to his July 13 attempted assassination, according to several sources familiar with the decision-making.
Rowe succeeded former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned last week after bipartisan calls following her widely panned testimony before the House Oversight Committee. But both Rowe and Cheatle were directly involved in decisions denying requests for more magnetometers, additional agents, and other resources to help screen rallygoers at large, outdoor Trump campaign gatherings.
It was Rowe’s decision alone to deny counter sniper teams to any Trump event outside of driving distance from D.C., these sources asserted.
At press time, Rowe’s testimony is ongoing. Further details will be published as they become available.
