Republican Senator Ron Johnson, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is accusing the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service of obstructing the investigation into the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Senator Johnson highlighted the lack of crucial information provided to the committee, claiming they are being stonewalled. “Things like the autopsy report, you know, the House has it under subpoena. We don’t have it,” he told reporters. He also mentioned the absence of toxicology reports and trajectory reports, which would reveal the path of the bullets fired during the incident. “So, where’d the bullets go? We don’t even know how they handled the crime scene,” Johnson said.
The senator expressed frustration over the lack of progress in the investigation, noting that the committee hasn’t been able to interview the sniper who neutralized Thomas Crooks, the would-be assassin who opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Crooks, during the July 13th event, grazed the former president’s ear, killed a rally attendee, and critically injured two others.
Johnson also revealed that the FBI has failed to provide the committee with any FD-302 forms, documents used to record interview findings. Despite promises from FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate during a July hearing to provide these forms as soon as possible, Johnson claims the committee has yet to receive a single one. He further pointed to the disparity in the number of interviews conducted: “They’ve done 1,000 interviews. We’ve done 12,” he stated.
Johnson describes the provided documents as “heavily redacted,” highlighting the unusual use of whiteout instead of the traditional black ink. He questioned whether the whiteout obscured single words or larger portions of text, expressing concern over the lack of transparency.
“That’s the level of opacity that we’re getting in terms of their lack of cooperation with our investigation,” Johnson stated.
The Secret Service has maintained that they are cooperating with Congressional investigations despite accusations of stonewalling. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Secret Service asserted: “The U.S. Secret Service is cooperating with a wide range of reviews and investigations related to the attempted assassination on Former President Donald Trump. This includes multiple Congressional investigations, including inquiries by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the Senate, and a special bipartisan task force in the House of Representatives.”
The spokesperson further claimed that the Secret Service has provided over 2,800 pages of documentation and made employees available for interviews as requested. They also mentioned a September 12th briefing by Acting Director Ron Rowe for members of House and Senate committees on the agency’s mission assurance investigation.
However, Senator Johnson’s allegations and the ongoing lack of information from the Secret Service raise concerns about the thoroughness and transparency of the investigation into the assassination attempt against former President Trump. The situation highlights the importance of accountability and the need for full cooperation with Congressional inquiries.
