Congress demands answers from Secret Service after Trump assassination attempt

WASHINGTON — Top leaders in Congress quickly unified to rebuke a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Saturday rally, demanding briefings and planning investigations into the incident that left the former president injured.

“Congress will do a full investigation of the tragedy yesterday to determine where there were lapses in security and anything else that the American people need to know and deserve to know,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday on the “TODAY” show. “But in the meantime, we’ve got to turn the rhetoric down. We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country.”

Johnson said he has “gotten briefings from law enforcement” and asked “pointed questions” of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Saturday night.

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill also condemned the shooting.

“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. His office said after the incident he had been briefed on the latest developments.

House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., asked Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a July 22 hearing. House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., also demanded answers from Mayorkas in a Sunday letter.

In a separate letter to Cheatle, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., demanded answers on the security lapse at the Trump rally, including whether the Trump campaign requested additional protection and whether those resources were denied.

Gallego, a military veteran, wrote that the shooting “raises grave concerns regarding the security measures — or lack thereof — that were taken