Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told Breitbart News that the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation “owe the American people an explanation” for the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and what happened at the Trump rally.
Blackburn spoke about the senators’ call with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and how many questions remain about how the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to climb onto a nearby roof and get a first-hand view of President Trump.
“This is, in my opinion, absolutely despicable. This is an assassination attempt. The director of the Secret Service and the director of the FBI called the senator today. We still don’t know how we lost a guy with a backpack and a rangefinder,” Blackburn said. “How did we lose this guy? We still don’t know how he got on the roof?”
Blackburn added that another question people want to know is “why” it took “two days” for the Secret Service to start uncovering something.
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“People want answers on this,” Blackburn continued. “People are outraged by this. And the director of the Secret Service should have given us answers on Saturday night, not wait a day, two days, three days.”
The Tennessee senator added that the Secret Service and FBI director “are answerable not only to senators but to the American people on this matter.”
“Someone tried to assassinate Donald Trump on Saturday. We are grateful and we know it was God’s hand that protected him. We deserve an explanation,” Blackburn added. “The American people deserve an explanation.”
Blackburn did not provide details about what was discussed on the call, but post In her X interview, she wrote that she was “appalled” to learn that “the Secret Service was aware of the threat” before the former president spoke at the rally.
“I have no confidence in Secretary Cheatle’s leadership and believe it is in our country’s best interest for her to step down,” Blackburn wrote.
I just finished a briefing with the Secret Service and the FBI, and I am appalled to learn that the Secret Service was aware of the threat before President Trump took the stage.
I have no confidence in Director Cheatle’s leadership and believe it is in our best interest…
— Senator Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 17, 2024
As Breitbart News reports, there were various security lapses that day, and several police officers reportedly spotted Crooks and reported him as a security threat. Two Butler Township police officers reportedly chased Crooks up a ladder, but retreated when they saw he had a gun.
Several rally attendees and police officers also reportedly warned about Crooks, with one officer reportedly “alerting his command staff” and saying he saw Crooks using a rangefinder to calculate the distance between where Trump was speaking and where he was located.
in interview ABC News’ Cheatle explained that there were no Secret Service agents on the roof where Crooks was located because the building’s roof is “sloped” and for “security reasons.”
