Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz rebuked acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. on Tuesday for not answering his questions.
Rowe testified during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle recently resigned her role following her own evasive testimony before Congress. Cruz accused the acting director of not directly answering questions about decision-making in the agency and the number of agents Trump has compared to President Joe Biden. (RELATED: Security Had Reportedly Been Stationed On Rooftop Used By Trump Rally Shooter, But Abandoned It Due To ‘Hot Weather’)
WATCH:
‘Stop Interrupting Me’: Ted Cruz Unloads On Acting Secret Service Director For ‘Refusing To Answer’ His Questions pic.twitter.com/vUAsncyAZh
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 30, 2024
“I believe that the Secret Service leadership made a political decision to deny these requests. And I think the Biden administration has been suffused with partisan politics,” Cruz said. “Did the same person who denied the request for additional security to President Trump also repeatedly deny the requests for security to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was murdered by an assassin and whose uncle was murdered by an assassin? Did the same person make that decision?”
“Senator, what I will tell you is that Secret Service agents are not political,” Rowe responded.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not receive Secret Service protection from Biden until after the Trump assassination attempt, despite requesting it beforehand.
Cruz asserted the leadership Biden appointed is “political.”
“I have a simple question: yes or no. Did the same person deny the Trump request that also denied the RFK request? That’s a yes or no question,” he said.
“Senator, that is not a yes or no question. One, there’s a process for a candidate nominee to receive protection,” Rowe responded. “That is a bicameral, bipartisan process.”
Cruz told Rowe his use of the word “bicameral” is inaccurate because he’s not in Congress as the two talked over each other.
Secret Service whistleblowers said there were limited resources to protect Trump due to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington, D.C, and First Lady Jill Biden’s campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Daily Caller reported.
“What was the relative size of the Trump detail compared to the detail that is assigned to the President and the First Lady?” Cruz asked later in the hearing.
“Senator, the former president travels with a full shift, just like the president,” he said.
Cruz asked him to clarify if it was “the exact same size.”
“On the day of, in Butler, the agents surrounding him, it is the same number of agents surrounding the president today,” Rowe said.
Cruz interrupted to clarify his use of the word “president,” asking again if “it is [his] testimony that in Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump had the same number of agents protecting him that Joe Biden has at a [comparable] event.” Rowe insisted he was “trying to answer.”
“You are not answering it. Is it the same number of agents or not?” Cruz asked, later asking “how many more agents” Biden has than Trump.
“Sir, you are refusing to answer straight,” Cruz said. “Sir, stop interrupting me. Stop interrupting me. You are refusing to answer clear and direct questions. I am asking the relative difference in the number of agents between those assigned to Donald Trump and those assigned to Joe Biden. I’m not asking why you assign more to Joe Biden.”
Rowe told Cruz he will provide him with the number so he can view it with his “own eyes.”
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