During remarks on the Senate floor Monday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) spoke about an ongoing investigation into the attempted assassination of President Trump.
01:05Sixty years after JFK's assassination, we still have questions being asked.
01:13Unfortunately, there are still aspects to that shooting where the government hasn't been transparent.
01:22The Biden administration stonewalled my oversight requests.
01:28I strongly urge the new administration to let all the facts breathe, unlike the last administration.
01:37The day of the shooting, my oversight unit quickly got to work.
01:45They talked to patriotic whistleblowers.
01:49They informed dozens of witnesses and interviewed them, including local law enforcement officials, rally goers, and local businesses.
02:03I have staff obtained and reviewed weeks' worth of security footage, text messages, pictures, law enforcement briefing materials,
02:19after-action reports, and still other records.
02:23They also obtained police body camera footage that provided the first video of what happened in the aftermath of that shooting.
02:39I made it all public.
02:42At the time, my investigative work unveiled the most detailed picture of the Trump assassination attempt.
02:50As part of my oversight, I asked the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General to review the matter.
03:01I also requested the Government Accountability Office to do the same as I asked the Inspector General to do.
03:09The American people wanted answers.
03:16They wanted accountability in the aftermath of this tragedy.
03:21I have worked hard to do just that, and I know there's more work to be done.
03:27Now, this past weekend, the Government Accountability Office produced me its report on the July 13 assassination attempt.
03:40The Government Accountability Office report starts by stating, quote,
03:49The U.S. Secret Service failed to implement security measures that could have prevented the assassination attempt on then-former President Donald J. Trump during a July 13, 2024 campaign rally, end quote.
04:10According to the report, prior to the July 13 rally, Secret Service received information from the intelligence community about a threat against President Trump's life.
04:27Yet, this threat information wasn't shared with Secret Service personnel or local law enforcement officials, all responsible for securing that event.
04:45Clearly, had all federal, state, and local law enforcement officials known of this threat, it would have changed how they secured the AGR building,
04:57where the sniper opened fire from.
05:01As I previously made public, Secret Service and its local partners had cell phone issues on July 13.
05:11The Government Accountability Office report found that Secret Service didn't have a policy to assess cellular service at the site,
05:23even though communication is key during any major event like this.
05:30This resulted in the Secret Service not receiving real-time threat information and updates during the search for the gunman.
05:40Every delayed second in finding the gunman meant that he was one step closer to carrying out his evil objective.
05:55I previously made public documents showing that the Secret Service had issues with counter-drone system at the rally.
06:04The General Government Accountability Office confirmed my previous oversight.
06:14GAO found that the Secret Service's counter-drone operator lacked the training, the knowledge, and support to fix and operate the counter-drone system.
06:29According to the Government Accountability Office report,
06:35these problems occurred because the Secret Service didn't follow its own requirements
06:42that personnel must complete training before operating a counter-drone system.
06:50The GAO report says the Secret Service said using a counter-drone is like turning on a flashlight.
07:03Yet the counter-drone did not work, and the Secret Service could not fix it.
07:11Had a counter-drone been operating as planned,
07:14and it could have identified the shooter's drone and even the shooter.
07:22The Government Accountability Office's report also found that Secret Service planned to use farm equipment
07:33to address a line-of-sight issue when securing the AGR building.
07:39Before the rally, a campaign staffer asked Secret Service to modify the plan,
07:46which the advance team did as the staffer requested.
07:52But they didn't notify senior officials overseeing the rally of these changes.
07:59If they had, the senior officials might have overruled them.
08:04While the report says the Secret Service has made changes to correct some of these problems,
08:12they still have more work to do.
08:15The Secret Service operates in a zero-fail mission,
08:20and they don't have room for any error.
08:24Every failure exposed by the Government Accountability Office report
08:31must be turned into positive changes in the Secret Service.
08:37I want my colleagues to know that I'll be riding herd on them
08:42until I'm satisfied the job is done.
08:45I want to close out by thanking the law enforcement officers serving on the front lines,
08:52including the Secret Service, Capitol Police, their law enforcement partners,
08:57and, of course, their families,
08:59all working hard and sacrificing to keep the public and the government safe.
09:07I am grateful to you all and do not in the future then take the days that seem uneventful for granted.
