Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Jr. says his agency was delayed in using a drone system that could have stopped shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Jr. admitted to the Senate on Tuesday that the assassination attempt against former President Trump was "a failure of the Secret Service," and not local law enforcement.
Rowe's admission was the most direct assignment of guilt by the Secret Service and investigators since the July 13 shooting. The acting director appeared before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on Tuesday alongside FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
Rowe detailed the failure of a drone detection system that was supposed to be online before shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks conducted his own reconnaissance the day of the rally.
Investigators say the drone system was reliant on public cellphone service and that there were bandwidth issues, causing the system to only go online at 5:20 pm. instead of 3 p.m.
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"Why is the Secret Service dependent upon local a cellular network? Does the Secret Service have a backup plan in place?" asked Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
"That is something … that has cost me a lot of sleep because of the eventual outcome of the assailant. What if we had a geolocated him because that counter-UAS platform had been up?" Rowe said. "It is something that I have struggled with to understand, and I have no explanation for it. It is something that I feel as though could have perhaps found him. We could have maybe stopped him. Maybe on that particular day he would have decided this isn't the day to do it, because law enforcement just found me flying my drone."
"People fly drones all the time on the peripheries of our sites, and we go out and we talk to them and we ascertain what their intentions are. On this day, in particular, because of the connectivity challenge, as you noted, there was a delay and he flew his drone at 3:51, approximately. So moving forward, we are leveraging resources from the Department of Homeland Security and others to make sure that we have dedicated connectivity. So that we're not reliant on public domain so that we can ensure that whatever assets we have in place, those assets are operational, and that is my commitment to you that we are going to make sure we're going to do that," Rowe continued.
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Lawmakers continued to press Rowe on why there was no security coverage of the building Crooks used to fire on Trump. The official said admitted he "cannot understand" how it was overlooked.
Rowe said a local sniper team was supposed to be stationed at a sight with a direct view of the rooftop, but the position was abandoned. Despite multiple weeks of investigation, Rowe says the Secret Service has not confirmed why the position was abandoned.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO., got into a heated back-and-forth with Rowe over why no Secret Service agents have been relieved of duty or suspended as of yet in relation to the shooting.
Rowe insisted that he wait for the conclusion of the investigation before making any firings, while Hawley argued that the reality of a former president being shot should be enough to act without delay.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., also admonished both Rowe and Abbate for their lack of transparency in the investigation. He compared the incident to the shooting at Pulse Nightclub during his time as the governor of Florida, saying the Secret Service and FBI should be conducting near-daily press conferences.
A top detail lawmakers honed in on was the fact that Crooks was confirmed to be holding a range finder but was deemed only a suspicious person rather than a threat. Rowe confirmed that range finders--this one designed for golf--are not on the Secret Service's list of prohibited items. He said the agency will add it in the near future.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., later referenced a whistleblower letter from a Secret Service countersniper who stated that the work environment within the agency needed massive reforms.
Her office did not immediately respond to a request to see the letter.
Abbate later revealed that the FBI has yet to gain full access to the apps on Crooks' phone, saying some content remains hidden on encrypted messaging apps.
Abbate went on to say that the FBI believes it has identified one of Crooks' social media accounts, but they have yet to fully verify its ownership.
This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.
