House Republican leaders are calling for accountability after the failed assassination attempt against former President Trump on Saturday.
“I think there are so many questions that need to be answered, and I don’t know who is to blame. I don’t know what the breakdowns are, I clearly know there were breakdowns. But let’s find out who’s responsible and then people need to be held accountable,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital.
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said the shooting was likely the result of a “major security breakdown.”
“One of my initial reactions as I was watching this unfold on television was anger – how could this happen? How can a person with a gun get to a rooftop that overlooks the stage that close to the former president?” Hudson told Fox News Digital.
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Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’m no security expert…but I do have some familiarity with rifles and scopes. And that was a very close distance. And the fact that rooftop was available for that shooter, I just can’t understand. So you know, I want to hear what happened.”
A 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania from a nearby roof over the weekend, killing one attendee and critically injuring two others. Trump was shot in the ear before he ducked behind the podium and pulled off the stage by his Secret Service detail.
But the situation has led to lawmakers questioning how the gunman could get so close to a heavily secured area, despite people seeing him climb up onto the building he fired from. There were also heavily armed police inside that building, according to reports.
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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer called for accountability (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., both called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign.
Emmer and Hudson would not go that far, telling Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention (RNC) that they wanted to see what details could be uncovered before making their judgment.
FBI Director Christopher Wray held member-wide briefings with both the House and Senate on Wednesday to discuss lawmakers’ questions and concerns.
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Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of House Republicans’ campaign arm, said he wanted to know how the shooter got so close to the rally perimeter
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A source familiar with the House’s call said it lasted roughly 45 minutes, and that lawmakers found Wray and Cheatle’s answers unsatisfying.
The source said Johnson would set up a classified briefing for lawmakers next week when the House is back in session.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI and Secret Service for comment but not hear back by time of publication.
