The acting director of the U.S. Secret Service and a Texas congressman got into a screaming match Thursday during a hearing on the agency’s failures leading to two assassination attempts against President-elect Trump.
Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe shouted at Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, after the GOP lawmaker lambasted the service for security lapses that made Trump a target of two failed shooting attempts.
The outburst happened after Fallon showed a picture of Presidents Biden and Trump at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony this year and suggested that as the Special Agent in Charge of that detail, Rowe should have been close enough to Biden to be in the picture. Rowe was not pictured.
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Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, is seen on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Who is usually at an event like this closest to the President of the United States?” Fallon asked, pointing at the photo. “Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?”
Rowe said the security detail was present but out of view of the camera. As he spoke, he became enraged and accused Fallon of using 9/11 for political purposes.
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U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe testifies before a Joint Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing examining the security failures leading to the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“That is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 911. I actually responded to Ground Zero,” Rowe said. “I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center.”
“I’m not asking that, I’m asking you, if you were … were you the special agent in charge!?” Fallon interrupted, shouting at Rowe.
Rowe raised his voice in response. “I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11!” he yelled back.
“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Rowe screamed at the lawmaker.
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Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures with a bloodied face as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
“I’m not,” Fallon fired back, as the committee chairman demanded order and banged his gavel.
“You are, sir. You are out of line, congressman!” Rowe fumed. “Way out of line.”
Fallon then accused Rowe of “playing politics” by refusing to answer his question.
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“I am a public servant who has served this nation,” Rowe retorted, saying he served on the nation’s “darkest day.”
“You will not politicize it!” Rowe thundered.
Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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