One year after the shooting incident at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where then-candidate Donald Trump was injured, Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and chair of the Homeland Security Committee, has called for congressional oversight of the Secret Service. Paul argued that there was a ‘cultural cover-up’ that masked critical security failures leading to the incident. The Kentucky senator claimed that multiple requests for additional security resources were either denied or left unfulfilled, contributing to the breach that resulted in the shooting. Paul emphasized that the Secret Service’s leadership ignored these requests, with the director allegedly aware of the situation. The incident led to injuries for former President Trump, with his ear grazed by a bullet, and resulted in the deaths of a fire chief and a 20-year-old shooter, who was neutralized by a Secret Service sniper.
Former President Joe Biden called for investigations into the Secret Service soon after the incident, and at least one found ‘deep flaws’ in the organization. Paul reiterated his criticism of the Secret Service’s leadership, stating that the former director, Kimberly Cheatle, lied under oath by denying the existence of those requests. A Senate report later confirmed that the agency denied or left unfulfilled at least 10 requests for additional resources. Cheatle, in response, acknowledged ‘mistakes were made’ but maintained that she did not provide misleading testimony and had directed additional security assets. Meanwhile, other Republicans, like Sen. Tom Cotton, have blamed the Biden administration for the agency’s lack of responsiveness to security requests. Paul argued that such large rallies inherently pose ‘extraordinary risk’ and require meticulous planning, but he criticized the Secret Service and others for failing to take responsibility, with no disciplinary actions taken despite investigations.