The hallowed chambers of the House of Representatives nearly turned into a cage match yesterday during a hearing about the assassination attempts of president-elect Donald Trump, and the role the United States Secret Service played.
Here’s a rundown of the ugly scene on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was questioning acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe about the agency’s coverage of Trump during a Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July where Trump was shot in the ear.
During his questioning, Fallon proceeded to scold Rowe for waiting days before going to Butler.
The outburst began to simmer 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.
Fallon asked Rowe if he was the SAC (Special Agent in Charge) that day.
“Who is usually at an event like this closest to the President of the United States?” Fallon also asked, pointing at the photo. “Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?”
At that moment, that’s when things boiled over as Rowe began screaming at Fallon, claiming Fallon was politicizing 9/11.
“You know why you were there, because you wanted to be visible, because you are auditioning for this job that you’re not [going] to get,” Fallon yelled during their confrontation, accusing him of endangering lives.
“You are out of line, congressman. Way out of line,” Rowe screamed. “I am a public servant who has served this nation and spent time on our country’s darkest day.”
“That is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. 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.
Fallon claimed Rowe wasn’t answering the questions and had agents “out of position.” He said he was asking “serious questions” on behalf of the American people.
Here’s footage of the entire event.
At the Trump assassination hearing, chaos erupts after Rep. Pat Fallon asks Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe about his appearing as a dignitary, rather than for security at a 9/11 memorial event pic.twitter.com/52EX8C46I5
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 5, 2024
Shortly after the hearing, Fallon spoke with Fox News, saying his intention was to raise concerns about Rowe’s personal involvement in such an event, something he called unprecedented.
“There’s no reason for him to be there. There isn’t. Try to find a place at a time in history where the Secret Service director was that close to the president at a function or event. I don’t think you could find it. So, yeah, I think he was auditioning for the job, a job that I don’t believe he’s going to get come Jan. 20. I have not talked to the president about that, but I suspect that they’re going to find much better people because we need to change the culture as well.”