Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said the Secret Service and FBI are “basically stalling” on the Senate’s bipartisan investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“All I can say is the Secret Service and the FBI are basically stalling. They’re stonewalling us. We’ve gotten transcripts of some of the interviews, but the documents that we’ve requested are heavily redacted,” he said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” noting that the documents won’t be delivered until the day of the interviews.
“From my perspective, we haven’t gotten anything from the Secret Service or the FBI. We’ve asked them for all the 302 forms, all the records of interviews with hundreds of individuals. They haven’t even given that to us,” he added.
Johnson said he was taking part in a bipartisan Senate investigation into the shooting at a Trump rally last month that left one person dead and the gunman, a bullet that grazed the former president’s ear before a counter-sniper shot and killed the gunman.
Now lawmakers are promising a bipartisan investigation into the incident. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said last month that his committee would lead a bipartisan investigation into the matter.
Johnson, a former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, joined calls for a congressional investigation into security at a Trump rally last month. He criticized government agencies on Sunday for not releasing all the information they need to know.
“They’ve positioned themselves above the law. They don’t really believe they’re accountable to oversight by Congress or the American people, so that’s why they behave like this,” he said.
“Only they have access to this information until they decide what information to provide to us and when. They are in complete control,” he added.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle It said in a statementAt the time, the bureau said it would “cooperate with the appropriate congressional committees on any oversight activities.” He subsequently resigned after several lawmakers called on him to do so.
A Secret Service spokesperson told The Hill that the agency has “submitted over 1,000 pages of relevant documents” to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) regarding the investigation, and that the committee has asked Secret Service agents to record interviews and will continue to do so.
In a statement to The Hill, the FBI also reiterated that it continues to share information about the assassination attempt with lawmakers.
“Any suggestion that the FBI is obstructing Congress’ efforts to investigate the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania is inaccurate and unfounded. The FBI worked closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation of the shooting and followed standard procedures in handling the crime scene and evidence,” the FBI said.
“The FBI remains committed to thorough investigation to obtain as complete an understanding as possible of what led to this shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency, including continuing to share information with Congress by participating in public hearings and conducting multiple in-person briefings, and providing the public with information about our ongoing investigation,” the statement continued.
Updated at 9:23 p.m.
