Secret Service director is set to testify about Trump assassination attempt

A political scientist and expert on political assassinations pointed out major similarities between the attempted killing of former President Trump and the infamous presidential assassinations of the 20th century, focusing in particular on the fact that major security failures led to each of the traumatic incidents.

Dr. Larry Sabato, the author of "The Kennedy Half Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy," told Fox News Digital this week that just like in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy – as well as the President Reagan assassination attempt – a troubled young man was able to game "serious" security vulnerabilities and get a clear shot at a U.S. leader.

"By my count, Trump had perhaps triple the Secret Service personnel that JFK had," the professor said, hinting at the scale of the security failures that almost led to Trump’s death last weekend.

A 20-year-old suspected gunman named Thomas Crooks fired an AR-15-style rifle at the former president during his 2024 campaign rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday, hitting Trump in the right ear and narrowly missing his head. Two others were seriously wounded, and Trump supporter Corey Comperatore was killed while protecting his family.

The House is expected to vote on legislation led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., to establish a bipartisan commission that will investigate the Trump rally shooting.

The 11-member committee would "investigate and fully examine all actions by any agency, Department, officer, or employee of the federal government, as well as State and local law enforcement or any other State or local government or private entities or individuals, related to the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania," according to a draft resolution.

It will then "issue a final report of its findings to the House not later than December 13, 2024, including any recommendations for legislative reforms necessary to prevent future security lapses," the resolution adds.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on May 24. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told ‘Fox & Friends’ on Monday morning that there were “clearly some lapses” with the way the Secret Service handled Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. 

“I have Secret Service protection right now. And the Secret Service have been doing an amazing job for me. I am very, very happy with the level of protection they are giving me and the level of concern and their professionalism,” Kennedy said. 

But he added that “it seemed to me that there were clearly some lapses” in the way the Secret Service operated at the Trump campaign event where the assassination attempt was made. 

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is set to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on the matter this morning. 

Ron Layton, a former Secret Service official who handled presidential protection details, tells The Wall Street Journal that Director Kimberly Cheatle’s upcoming testimony on the Trump rally shooting will be a “seminal moment in the recent history of the agency.” 

Layton said to the newspaper that the Secret Service’s “aura of impenetrability” has been eroded in the wake of the Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, and now Cheatle will have to assure Americans that her agency has made fixes to safeguard Trump and other public officials. 

“This is a seminal moment in the recent history of the agency to explain what happened and what the failures were,” Layton told The Wall Street Journal.  

The hearing, titled "Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump," is set to unfold on Capitol Hill beginning at 10 a.m. ET. 

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Getty Images)

A Republican member of the House Oversight Committee, who is expected to grill U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday, said the overarching Department of Homeland Security will get a "rude awakening" if they continue to "stonewall" in regard to failures in the lead-up to the attempt on former President Trump's life.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital over the weekend that the bureaucracy cannot be allowed to shirk their duty to explain themselves to the American people when the hearing commences.

"I am looking forward to hearing from Director Cheatle this Monday and getting answers for the American people on the Secret Service's failure to take action that would have prevented the attempt on President Trump's life from happening," Luna said.

"I also would like to get answers on why Mayorkas' DHS tried to pull blatant bureaucratic stonewalling on us. They are not getting away with it, and we expect their full transparency."

An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Handout via AFP)

BETHEL PARK, Pa. – An expert in extremism and terrorism said that Thomas Matthew Crooks' assassination attempt on former President Trump was likely not politically motivated – instead, the 20-year-old was likely "acting out a fantasy," and seeking a target that would bring him "attention and fame."

Jytte Klausen, a political science professor at Brandeis University, has studied terrorist networks and violent extremism for two decades, putting together a methodology for forensic biographies of perpetrators and radicalization trajectories.

She is currently writing a book called "How to Become a Terrorist" that dives into incels, homegrown Islamists, neo-Nazis and other groups. 

"He wanted to become somebody – he wanted to make a mark," Klausen posited about Crooks, who unleashed the attack on Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. "He appears not to have been particularly politically motivated, I think, based on what we know about his search history… there's no sense he wanted to effect the election."

"He was basically looking for a target that would bring him attention and fame – that's why I say that he was acting out a fantasy of himself as being a big man, showing the world what he can do and getting attention," she continued. 

Two investigators, who appeared to be federal agents, enter Thomas Crooks' home. (Derek Shook/Fox News Digital)

BETHEL PARK, Pa. – A pair of plainclothes investigators, who appeared to be federal agents, visited the Pennsylvania home of former President Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks on Sunday – more than one week after the 20-year-old opened fire at a campaign rally.

The men, one carrying a large bag, were greeted at the door by a man who invited them in around 2 p.m. 

They remained inside the modest Milford Drive house in the quiet Bethel Park suburb for 85 minutes before returning to their black SUV and driving off.

Later the same afternoon, a pair of men in black suits knocked on a neighbor's door several times and waited. No one answered. They walked to the side of the house and emerged a few minutes later.

The slain shooter's father has been holed up inside the brick home since his troubled son's failed assassination attempt that left Trump with a bloodied ear, firefighter Corey Comperatore dead and two others seriously wounded.

Secret Service agents converge to cover former President Trump during the campaign rally on July 13 in Pennsylvania. (AP/Evan Vucci)

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will call on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign Monday in his opening statement at a hearing about the Trump rally assassination attempt. 

“While we give overwhelming thanks to the individual Secret Service agents who did their jobs under immense pressure, this tragedy was preventable. The Secret Service has a zero fail mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally,” Comer will say. “The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but it has now become the face of incompetence. 

“It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign. However -- in complete defiance -- Director Cheatle has maintained she will not tender her resignation. Therefore, she will answer questions today from Members of this Committee seeking to provide clarity to the American people about how these events were allowed to transpire,” Comer will add. 

“The safety of Secret Service protectees is not based on their political affiliation. And the bottom line is that under Director Cheatle’s leadership, we question whether anyone is safe,” Comer also will say.  

Fox News' Kelly Phares contributed to this report.

The site of the Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP/Gene J. Puskar)

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc, released his official 13-page preliminary findings of his office's investigation into the assassination attempt of former President Trump.

Trump survived the assassination attempt on July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where alleged gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire, killing one spectator and injuring several others, including Trump, who suffered injuries to his ear.

Shortly following the incident, Johnson's office began contacting federal, state and local government entities, as well as private companies, to solicit information about the security failures at the rally, the senator's office said. The preliminary findings are based on the initial information Johnson's office obtained after the shooting.

The preliminary findings determined that the Secret Service did not attend a security briefing given to local SWAT and sniper teams on the morning of July 13, that local law enforcement said communications were siloed and they were not in frequent radio contact directly with the Secret Service, that local law enforcement notified command about Crooks before the shooting and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of the notification and that the Secret Service was seen on the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building with local law enforcement following the shooting.

The investigation also found that photos of the shooter were sent to the ATF for facial recognition and that local law enforcement said the Secret Service was initially not planning on sending snipers to the rally.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle speaks during a Republican National Convention security news conference on June 6 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.(AP/Morry Gash)

The House Committee On Oversight and Accountability has scheduled a hearing for Monday with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is facing criticism and calls to resign from lawmakers over her agency's handling of the Trump rally shooting last weekend in Pennsylvania.

The hearing, titled "Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump," is set to unfold on Capitol Hill beginning at 10 a.m. ET Monday.

Cheatle is refusing to resign, but House Speaker Mike Johnston told FOX Business on Thursday that he is prepared to call on President Biden to fire her.

“Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down. She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement last Wednesday. 

Cheatle was confronted by senators who were demanding answers when she showed up at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.