NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters): Top Republicans in the US Congress called on Wednesday for the head of the Secret Service to resign after an assassination attempt wounded former President Donald Trump on Saturday, and the House launched a bipartisan probe into the security failures.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said his chamber would launch a bipartisan task force with subpoena power, as lawmakers received private phone briefings from security officials before expected public hearings next week.
"It'll be comprised of Republicans and Democrats to get down to the bottom of this quickly, so the American people can get the answers that they deserve," Johnson told Fox News.
Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said on social media, "New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction."
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in a Tuesday interview with ABC News said she would not resign. Secret Service officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The Saturday shooting wounded Trump in the ear, killed a rally attendee and injured two others. The 20-year-old gunman, who was shot and killed by security, fired from a rooftop about 150 yards (140 meters) from the stage where Trump spoke.
"Whoever made the decision not to cover that building. You know, that's probably the biggest flaw in this thing," Republican Representative Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on Fox News.
Cheatle is due to testify next week in separate hearings before the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees.
Another report adds: Thomas Crooks was pacing next to a warehouse building outside the Butler Farm Show grounds as a crowd gathered for one of former President Donald Trump's signature outdoor rallies.
Crooks had already been flagged as suspicious by law enforcement. By the time two police officers walked over to check him out, he was on the roof, belly crawling.
"He's got a gun," a bystander yelled.
One officer hoisted the other to the lip of the roof. As the officer pulled his head over the edge, a long-haired young man wearing glasses turned toward him, wielding an AR-15 -style rifle. The officer dropped back to the ground, the Butler County sheriff told Reuters.
Crooks, an introverted 20-year-old computer whiz who had just earned a spot at a college engineering program, turned back to his target about 400 feet away. He squeezed off several shots at Trump, clipping the former president's ear, killing an audience member and wounding two others before Secret Service snipers on a nearby building killed him with counterfire.
Crooks fired his rifle at approximately 6:10 pm, according to a Reuters photographer at the rally. Trump winced and grabbed his right ear. Secret Service agents tackled the former president and some supporters dived for cover.
A bullet hit what appeared to be the hydraulic line of a forklift that held a bank of speakers to the right side of the stage. Fluid spewed across the crowd and the lift's arm collapsed. To the left, screams erupted where a spectator had been fatally shot.
