Left to Right: Congressmen Michael Guest (R), Mike Ezell (R) and Bennie Thompson (D)
- Congressmen Guest (R), Ezell (R), and Thompson (D) sit on the House Homeland Security Committee. An oversight hearing with DHS, FBI and Secret Service is planned for next week.
Three of Mississippi’s four Congressmen will hear from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, and Secret Service (USSS) Director Kimberly Cheatle when the House Committee on Homeland Security convenes for a hearing next Tuesday, July 23.
The Committee’s chairman, Mark Green (R-TN), called the oversight hearing to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The requested information and documents for the hearing are due on Friday, July 19, and the briefing request must be satisfied by Monday, July 22. Members want to see:
- The security plan to secure the perimeter of the event site;
- Communications between or among personnel at the Department of Homeland Security and the Executive Office of the President related to any potential increase or addition of protective resources to President Trump’s security detail;
- Briefing materials used by Secretary Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Cheatle to brief President Joe Biden about the attempted assassination of President Trump.
Trump, the Republican nominee for President, was hosting a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the rooftop of a nearby building, killing one attendee and critically injuring two others. A bullet pierced Trump’s right ear before the former President ducked and was soon covered by Secret Service agents. Agents returned fire, killing Crooks in the process.
President Joe Biden (D), Trump’s General Election rival, addressed the nation hours later, saying he had directed a thorough investigation into the security of the former President. Since then, Mayorkas and Cheatle have limited their comments on the shooting. Questions have swirled on social media in the days following the assassination attempt, raising concerns over the security planning and response at the rally. Much of the speculation has been fueled by video footage and firsthand reports shared by attendees. Federal investigators continue to assess Crook’s motives and associations.
In a statement announcing the hearing, Committee Chairman Green said the American people want answers on what happened in Pennsylvania.
“Secretary Mayorkas and Director Cheatle are responsible for the department and the agency charged with securing our homeland and protecting our nation’s chief executives and candidates, while Director Wray leads the agency with the vital responsibility of investigating this attempted assassination,” Chairman Green said. “It is imperative that we partner to understand what went wrong, and how Congress can work with the departments and agencies to ensure this never happens again.”
Chairman Green went on to say that successful oversight requires Congress to work together with the federal officials as they testify publicly before the House Committee on Homeland Security.
“The American people, and the individuals and families who receive protective services, deserve nothing less,” Green added.
Mississippi’s 3rd and 4th District Republican Congressmen Michael Guest and Mike Ezell, respectively, serve on the Homeland Security Committee, as does the state’s lone Democrat Congressman Bennie Thompson of the 2nd District. Thompson is his party’s ranking member and previously chaired the Committee.
Guest, a former District Attorney, told Magnolia Tribune on Wednesday that he is committed to finding answers.
“With the news of what happened last weekend, Haley and I continue to pray for President Trump and our nation,” Guest said of he and his wife.
The 3rd District Congressman is the Vice Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and also the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee. He added that Americans are shocked.
“I am committed to finding answers to determine the chain of events that allowed this assassination attempt to occur,” Guest said. “The Committee on Homeland Security will be leading the Congressional inquiry into the attempted assassination of President Trump. As Vice Chairman of that committee, I will do everything I can to see that the American people get the answers they deserve.”
Congressman Ezell, a former Sheriff in his first term representing the 4th District, brings an understanding to the hearing that few others in Congress have.
“As a former law enforcement officer, I am familiar with the unique relationship local law enforcement and the United States Secret Service have while working in coordination,” Ezell told Magnolia Tribune Wednesday. “It is clear there was an obvious breakdown of communication between these agencies this past weekend.”
Ezell said the briefs members have received have been helpful as they collect the facts and details of the heinous act.
“As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, I look forward to next week’s hearing where we will hear testimony of this attempted assassination against President Trump,” Ezell said. “The American public, Corey Comperatore’s family, and President Trump deserve answers on how and why the situation escalated to the level it did. We must ensure that we learn from this horrific incident and that this never happens again.”
Comperatore is the husband, father and former fire chief who was killed at the rally by the assassin.
Thompson’s office did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
The 2nd District Congressman, who served as chairman of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s select House committee to investigate the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, has been highly critical of former President Trump. However, Thompson sent Trump his “thoughts and prayers” Saturday evening after the shooting, saying, “There is no room in American democracy for political violence.”
The next day, following social media outcry, Congressman Thompson announced that he had fired a staffer who posted a message on Facebook expressing the desire that the shooter’s aim be better next time.
