Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is calling on the Secret Service to explain a claim by a Butler police officer that the agency met with local law enforcement days before the assassination attempt on former President Trump. The officer, seen in newly released body camera footage, says he instructed the Secret Service to secure the building where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire.
Grassley also wants the police to address claims made by Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Lowe at a recent Senate hearing about local counter-sniper visibility that day. Local police dispute Lowe’s evidence of visibility that day.
The lawmakers made these requests in a letter to Gov. Rowe on Friday as part of the ongoing investigation into the attempted assassination of President Trump and the murder of local firefighter Corey Comperatore at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Enraged police officers claim they ordered Secret Service to guard building for Trump shooter days before rally: Body cameras
An image that appears to show the locations of anti-sniper teams at a Trump rally. The image includes a yellow marker indicating Crooks’ location, indicating that he was clearly visible to the local anti-sniper team.
“Were you aware of this body camera footage prior to your July 30th Congressional testimony? If not, why not?” Grassley wrote.
In his letter, Grassley asked Lowe to provide a “detailed explanation” about “Tuesday’s meeting.” [the] Is it the Secret Service? If so, did you check with them before testifying?”
“Furthermore, please provide a list of all local, state and federal officials who attended the meeting, provide all records, and answer precisely whether the Butler County police officers’ statements accurately represent events,” the letter reads.
In the body camera footage, a local officer can be heard telling a colleague: “I told them to put the motherfuckers here… Secret Service,” the officer says. “I told them on Tuesday, I told them to put the motherfuckers here.”
Grassley wrote that as of Aug. 9, the Beaver County ESU maintains that the Secret Service had not met with them to discuss the July 13 events.
“This type of interview should be standard, especially before testifying under oath to Congress,” the letter read. “Unfortunately, this further highlights the communications issues that were partly responsible for that day and that apparently continue to plague the Secret Service.”
Trump assassination attempt: Pennsylvania State Police release body camera footage from Butler rally that ended in deaths
The image shows the location of the local police anti-sniper team inside the AGR building. (Senator Chuck Grassley)
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on July 30, Rowe presented images that appeared to be a line of sight from a local counter-sniper’s position, including a yellow marker showing where Crooks was positioned, indicating that the counter-sniper had a clear view of Crooks.
But Grassley wrote that as part of their investigation, local police disputed the angle of the photo, saying “the photograph provided did not accurately represent the line of sight and coverage from their position within the building, nor their physical location within the building.”
In his letter, Senator Grassley included a photo of what local police say is their “actual location,” with two second-floor windows circled in it. Other photos show the line of sight of a local sniper, but do not show the rooftop where Crooks was positioned.
Snipers from Beaver or Butler counties are expected to be deployed at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. The former president was the subject of an assassination attempt during the rally, which left one rally attendee dead. (Courtesy of Senator Chuck Grassley)
In his letter, Grassley listed a list of demands for Rowe, including requiring him to provide a map of the scene with all local and federal law enforcement counter-sniper personnel and their assigned areas of coverage, as well as a diagram showing the shooter’s location that day.
He asks whether such photos and diagrams would contradict Secret Service records about how local snipers were supposed to be positioned and how the AGR building was supposed to be covered.
Grassley also wants Rowe to explain and provide records about what meetings were held before the rally and whether authorities inspected the AGR building before the rally. He also wants to know whether federal law enforcement officers who were at the rally saw anyone on the roof before Crooks opened fire.
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Snipers from Beaver or Butler counties are expected to be deployed at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. The former president was the subject of an assassination attempt during the rally, which left one rally attendee dead. (Courtesy of Senator Chuck Grassley)
Senator Grassley also sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national with ties to the Iranian government who was under investigation for allegedly plotting to assassinate former President Trump in the weeks leading up to the July 13 rally.
Marchant was arrested on July 12 as he was preparing to leave the United States on suspicion of trying to hire an undercover FBI agent as an assassin, authorities said.
Senator Grassley is asking Mayorkas to turn over Marchant’s immigration record, including whether he was granted any significant public interest parole before or after he was placed on the terrorism watch list.
