(NewsNation) — The bipartisan House task force investigating the plots to assassinate former President Donald Trump held its first hearing Thursday with testimony expected from several law enforcement officials.
While no active Secret Service officials were involved in Thursday’s hearing, local officers who were on site on July 13 told the panel about their work that day and any pre-rally interactions with the federal agency.
However, lawmakers did call a retired Secret Service agent to testify, pivoting to the agent between testimonies to use him as a first-hand source to verify proper Secret Service procedures and highlight failures that occurred on July 13.
The public hearing comes just a day after a Senate subcommittee released a report on Secret Service failures in Butler, Pennsylvania, leading up to the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life. Lawmakers claim “foreseeable” and “preventable” mistakes by the Secret Service “directly contributed” to the July shooting.
To date, most of the panel’s work has been conducted behind closed doors, including dozens of interviews with law enforcement agents and witnesses from the rally site where the former president was shot.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. was among those the task force had spoken to prior to the hearing, especially now that the agency is under a microscope.
However, no Secret Service member is anticipated to appear at Thursday’s hearing. The only exception is a former agent slated to testify.
While Thursday’s hearing will focus exclusively on the shooting in Butler, last week the House held a vote to expand the purview of the task force to include an investigation into the second assassination attempt on Trump’s life outside of his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course. This opens the door to future hearings.
The House task force was scheduled to travel to West Palm Beach on Friday for a site visit; however, that trip has been postponed due to Hurricane Helene.
Members of the task force told NewsNation they want to visit the site to gather critical information that would hopefully give them further insight and perspective to properly investigate the second assassination attempt.