GOP legislators protested when administration officials ended brief phone calls about the security failures that enabled the near-murder of President Donald Trump.
“This was a 100 percent cover-your-ass briefing, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) told Hill reporters after the short briefing on Wednesday. “The head of the Secret Service needs to go,” he added.
“Briefing was awful … not enough time for questions,” Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) told Politico.
The two briefings were for House and Senate members. The briefers included FBI Director Christopher Ray and Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle. The briefing went longer than the planned 30 minutes, but only a few legislators were allowed to ask questions.
The cut-off exasperated GOP legislators.
Never — in my 13 years in the Senate — have I seen a briefing end after answering only four questions.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) July 17, 2024
Politico described some of the little information provided to the elected politicians:
On July 6, the shooter searched for information on where Trump would speak on July 13, as well as for information on where the Democratic National Convention would be held. His phone used encrypted platforms linked to Germany, New Zealand, and Belgium. The Bureau has sought information from 30 companies, and is waiting on responses from more than a dozen.
The briefing did not reduce the rising GOP criticism of Cheatle. The Senate’s GOP leaders, Sen. Mitch McConnell, for example, used Twitter to urge Cheatle’s resignation.
Last week’s near-assassination of former President Trump was a grave attack on American democracy. The nation deserves answers and accountability. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) July 17, 2024
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also urged the Secret Service chief to resign, and he called for her boss — Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas — to face the cameras.
Why have we heard so little from Secretary Mayorkas?
Shouldn’t he be anxious to call out and address failures within his own department?
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) July 17, 2024
Mayorkas is at the center of the scandal, because his Department of Homeland Security includes the Secret Service agency. So far, he is avoiding public questioning, while he tries to appoint his own panel of experts to review the agency’s failures.
Lee described the administration’s obfuscation in a series of tweets:
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