The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general has opened an investigation into how the Secret Service handled security for former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
In a brief notice posted on the inspector general’s website, the agency said the purpose of the investigation was to “evaluate the United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service’s) processes regarding security for former President Trump’s July 13, 2024 election event, the event in which an assassination attempt was made against Trump.”
No date was given for when the investigation began. The notice is one of many ongoing cases being pursued by the inspector general’s office. President Biden had already ordered an independent investigation into security at the rally.
Questions remained Wednesday about how 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb to the roof of a building in Butler, Pennsylvania, and open fire on President Trump and other rally attendees.
Live updates: Secret Service faces questions as FBI investigates Trump shooter
Former President Trump after being shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an interview Tuesday that the agency is “solely responsible” for the implementation and enforcement of its security.
Cheatle told CNN that no funds were diverted from the rally on the day Trump was shot, despite other events in the state requiring Secret Service protection.
“With this particular site, we have divided up the areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service remains entirely responsible for the design, implementation and execution of the site,” Cheatle said.
Secret Service chief faces new criticism over ‘sloping roof’ comment
On the left is the building where the shooter set up camp at a Trump rally, and on the right is a sniper set up on a sloping roof behind former President Trump’s podium at the same rally. (Fox News Digital/Glenn Van Triff/TMX/Reuters)
In a separate interview with ABC News, Cheatle said authorities were aware of security vulnerabilities at the building where Crooks assumed a sniper position while targeting Trump.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof on the highest part, so, you know, for safety reasons, you don’t want people on a sloped roof, so the decision was made to protect the building from the inside,” she said.
On Saturday, July 13, gunfire erupted while President Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, and police snipers returned fire. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
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But the “sloping roof” comment has come under scrutiny, with critics on social media calling it “complete nonsense” and “hard to believe”.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
