Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. was left visibly shaken after a heated exchange with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over the agency’s reported denial of additional security resources to the Trump campaign leading up to the assassination attempt of the former president.
Cruz repeatedly asked Rowe who in the agency reportedly denied requests by Trump’s security detail and was unsatisfied when Rowe insisted, contrary to numerous media reports, that all requests for more security were fulfilled.
“It is accurate that the Trump team had not asked for additional security and had not been rebuffed?” Cruz asked during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees Tuesday.
Heated exchange between Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Rowe.@SenTedCruz: "I believe that the Secret Service leadership made a political decision to deny these requests…"
Rowe: "Secret Service agents are not political." pic.twitter.com/XFpD1ywlkc
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 30, 2024
“If you’re talking about Butler, Pennsylvania, all assets requested were approved,” Rowe replied before admitting that some requests for additional assets to Trump’s security detail in the past had been denied.
Notably, Rowe was “directly involved” in the Secret Service’s decision to deny additional security for past Trump rallies leading up to the MAGA rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to RealClearPolitics.
But both Rowe and Cheatle were directly involved in decisions denying requests for more magnetometers, additional agents, and other resources to help screen rallygoers at large, outdoor Trump campaign gatherings.
It was Rowe’s decision alone to deny counter sniper teams to any Trump event outside of driving distance from D.C., these sources asserted.
“I believe the Secret Service leadership made a political decision to deny these requests,” Cruz asserted. “And I believe the Biden administration has been suffused with partisan politics.”
Rowe replied, “Secret Service agents are not political.”
Cruz retorted that Secret Service leadership is appointed by the president and is therefore a political position.
Rowe’s own background is deeply political: he had previously worked in the Obama White House and under Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D).
FYI, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald L. Rowe, Jr. worked for:
1. Obama White House
2. Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT)
Don't let him pretend he is a career, non-partisan law-enforcement official.
He's a former partisan Democrat staffer. https://t.co/7959nOqUNy pic.twitter.com/sFxq1TZnmm
—
Mike Davis
Watch the full Senate hearing:
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