Comer to lead House Secret Service investigation into Trump assassination attempt | News

The FBI is investigating the shooting and is reportedly still trying to determine the shooter’s motive. For many elected officials, however, the “why” is not nearly as important as the “how.” Comer, who represents Kentucky’s 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives, attended part of the Calloway County Fiscal Court’s monthly work session Monday morning and took the opportunity to answer questions about the investigation that House Speaker Mike Johnson had just authorized. Although the topic was not part of the previously scheduled constituent meeting, most in attendance were eager to talk about the shooting and county issues that Comer’s office might be able to help with.

“Speaker Johnson just announced that I’m going to lead the Secret Service investigation to find out what went wrong,” Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview after a meeting with district officials. “So I’m going to announce here that we’re going to have a hearing with the Director of the Secret Service (Kimberly Cheatle) next Monday. It’s going to be prime time and it’s going to be broadcast live on every television station in America. We have a lot of questions. Certainly there was a glitch somewhere. You’re not allowed to shoot a president, a former president or a presidential candidate — or anyone. But there were shots that were allowed to be fired, and we know he climbed to the highest point (of a nearby building).

“So many things went wrong, and there are many red flags pointing to the events of the assassination. So we have a lot of questions for the Secret Service. We have been investigating the Secret Service for several months now for other incidents. There was an incident with Vice President (Kamala) Harris’s unit where two Secret Service members got into a fight at Andrews Air Force Base, and the Vice President was delayed because she was not able to meet with the Secret Service unit.

“There have also been some people coming forward, former Secret Service employees, saying that the training wasn’t what it used to be, that there were weaknesses even before this assassination. So I think we’re going to have a lot of questions, and hopefully we’re going to see some big changes at the Secret Service. Hopefully this will be a bipartisan investigation, and hopefully it won’t be partisan bickering like so many of the investigations we see in Congress, because we have a problem. It looks to me like both Trump and Biden are vulnerable, and I don’t think anyone in America wants to see that.”

Comer said he was at a baseball tournament in the Smoky Mountains with his son when news of the shooting broke, and he received numerous text messages and notifications on his phone as a result.

“Of course, like everyone else, I dropped what I was doing and watched the replay. I was just relieved that the (former) president wasn’t hurt,” Comer said. “My sympathies go out to the families that were hurt and, of course, to the one family that lost a life. From that moment on, I assumed I would probably be put in charge of an investigation. There was an investigation after the last assassination attempt on a president, and that was Reagan.

“I think everyone would agree that the mood in America is too heated, regardless of one’s ideology. In other words, there is too much hostility and discord around political opinions and name-calling and the like. The mainstream television and cable news media have gotten to the point where I think they sometimes agitate their viewers, whether it’s liberal or conservative television, and I’m not surprised that this sort of thing happens. What I want to do with our investigation is to make sure that we find out who is to blame for the shooter getting into position to fire eight shots at the president, and then make sure that this problem is fixed and it doesn’t happen again in the future.”

Elected officials in Murray expressed similar sentiments about the heated rhetoric across the country. Calloway County Judge and Executive Officer Kenny Imes said this was the third time in his life he had witnessed such a shocking event, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963 and the failed assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in March 1981. State Rep. Mary Beth Imes (R-Murray) said she and her husband were on their way back to Murray from Frankfort when the shooting occurred, and because she was driving, she didn’t see the news until after they returned and unpacked their car.

“My first thought was, ‘Where did that go?'” Kenny Imes said. “We’re used to that in third world countries, and I guess my biggest thought was, ‘Where was the Secret Service?’ I know enough to know that when a president visits, these places (should be thoroughly inspected). … Of course, they (agents) did a good job around him, but how does a guy come from 150 yards away and shoot?”

Mary Beth Imes said Saturday’s news was “surreal,” especially given the echoes of Kennedy and Reagan.

“(I had hoped) that our country had gotten through this, but I guess it’s mostly because of the times we live in,” she said.

Murray Mayor Bob Rogers said he and his wife, Gayle, learned the news from a friend who called to tell them about the event.

“We turned on the TV and saw him grab his ear and duck. And of course, for the next 24 hours, we watched what everyone else saw,” Rogers said. “It’s just unfortunate that things like this happen in our country and an innocent rally participant was killed. It’s just unfortunate and I don’t know what else to say except that I wish our country wasn’t as angry as it seems to be right now.”

“Fortunately, this was a failed assassination attempt,” said State Senator Jason Howell. “An electoral process free from violence is an essential part of our democracy. Tolerating an act of violence against a candidate is not only inexcusable, it threatens the very principles of our political process.”