A top Republican senator has revealed an alarming level of resistance from the Secret Service in providing crucial information about the recent assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
According to Fox News, Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., expressed frustration over the lack of cooperation from the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service in the ongoing investigation into the security failures surrounding the attacks on Trump.
Johnson, the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), highlighted specific materials that have been withheld from lawmakers, including autopsy reports, toxicology results, and trajectory reports from the crime scene.
The Wisconsin senator emphasized the unusual nature of the situation, noting that basic information typically available in such investigations has not been provided to the committee.
Johnson stated:
Things like the autopsy report, you know, the House has it under subpoena. We don't have it. [The] toxicology report; we don't have any of the trajectory reports. So, where'd the bullets go? We don't even know how they handled the crime scene.
Johnson also pointed out that they have been unable to interview key witnesses, including the sniper who neutralized Thomas Crooks, the would-be assassin who opened fire at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania.
The senator described the few documents provided to lawmakers as "heavily redacted" in an unusual manner. Johnson explained: "And in this case, unusually. I've never seen this. These are just whiteouts."
He added that the level of opacity in the documents made it difficult to determine what information had been obscured, further hampering the investigation's progress.
Johnson's revelations come amid growing bipartisan concerns about the Secret Service's apparent stonewalling of congressional inquiries. The senator noted that despite promises from FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate to provide interview forms (FD-302s), none have been received.
The lack of cooperation extends beyond document sharing. Johnson revealed that a recent briefing by Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe failed to provide any new information to the chairs and ranking members of both HSGAC and PSI.
In response to the allegations, a Secret Service spokesperson defended the agency's cooperation, stating:
The U.S. Secret Service is cooperating with a wide range of reviews and investigations related to the attempted assassination on Former President Donald Trump.
The spokesperson cited the provision of over 2,800 pages of documentation to various congressional entities and the availability of employees for interviews. However, the agency also acknowledged the challenges in responding to multiple requests given their finite resources and staff.
In conclusion, Senator Johnson's revelations highlight a concerning lack of transparency in the investigation of the Trump assassination attempts. The withholding of crucial evidence, unusual redactions, and limited access to key witnesses have impeded lawmakers' efforts to understand the security failures. As the investigation continues, the tension between congressional oversight and the Secret Service's information management practices remains a significant obstacle to uncovering the full truth behind these serious security breaches.
