(IntegrityTimes.com) – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed an independent and bipartisan panel to review the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. Members of the panel will have extensive experience in security and law enforcement, according to a statement released by the DHS. The review will take 45 days and will investigate the US Secret Service’s planning and actions leading up to and during the event.
Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, who served in former President Barack Obama’s administration, has been named to the panel. Former deputy attorney general and federal judge Mark Filip, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, and former DHS adviser to Bush Frances Townsend were also named. The statement revealed that other experts could be invited to join the panel in the following days.
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who has been heavily criticized by Republicans over the agency’s handling of security at the event, has welcomed the independent review. Cheatle expressed willingness to cooperate with the review of the actions taken by the Secret Service on the day of the shooting. She added that she looked forward to the panel making recommendations to ensure that such an incident can never happen again.
Trump has been requesting additional security assets for the last two years. Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, confirmed that some requests by the former president for additional security had been turned down. He denied, however, that the agency’s decisions to deny the requests did not relate specifically to the rally, which led to the death of volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore and two others being critically injured.
Though Cheatle was blasted by many Republicans who demanded her resignation following the attempt on Trump’s life, the former president and 2024 presidential candidate praised the Secret Service’s response to the shooting. Trump called the incident “surreal”, and said the agents did a “fantastic job” of taking out the gunman in one shot. He also noted how quick agents were to surround and shield him when a bullet grazed his ear.
On July 23, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced a bipartisan task force that will investigate the assassination attempt. Both leaders stressed that the concerns about security were bipartisan, vowing that the task force would strive to establish accountability and ensure that such an incident cannot happen again.
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