Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle said she welcomes the review | Photo: pexels
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed an independent bipartisan panel to investigate this month’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, officials said Sunday.
The panelists have extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent investigation into the planning and actions of the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during and after the demonstration, and into the policies and procedures of the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The first individuals appointed to the panel are former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush; Mark Filip, former federal judge and deputy attorney general to President George W. Bush; and David Mitchell, former Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the state of Delaware.
According to the statement, more experts may be asked to join the group in the coming days.
The panel will have 45 days to review Secret Service policies and procedures before, during and after the July 13 meeting in which a gunman shot Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We formed this bipartisan group to quickly identify improvements the U.S. Secret Service can implement to improve their work. We must all work together to ensure that events like July 13 do not happen again,” members of the independent review panel said in a joint statement.
Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle said she welcomes the investigation.
I look forward to the panel investigating what happened and making recommendations to ensure it never happens again, Cheatle said in a statement Sunday. The U.S. Secret Service continues to take steps to internally review our actions and remains committed to cooperating promptly and transparently with other investigations, including those by Congress, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.
Cheatle is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
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First print: Jul 22, 2024 | 09:14 AM IST