Ted Cruz Blasts Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. For 'Refusing To Answer' Questions

(L) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questions acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and Deputy Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Paul Abbate during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees on July 30, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) / (R) Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. testifies before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 30, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz chastised Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. on Tuesday for seemingly dodging his questions.

Under the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rowe testified on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, following the resignation of previous U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

Cruz asserted that the acting director had failed to respond to inquiries regarding the number of agents Trump was given in comparison to President Joe Biden as well as the agency’s “decision-making process.”

Cruz: “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… 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?”

Rowe: “Senator, what I will tell you is that Secret Service agents are not political.”

Even though he requested it in advance, the Secret Service did not provide protection for Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. until after the Trump murder attempt, when Trump himself demanded that the Independent candidate receive more protection, especially given his family’s history of assassinations.

Cruz: “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.”

Rowe: “Senator, that is not a yes or no question. One, there’s a process for a candidate nominee to receive protection… That is a bicameral, bipartisan process.”

As the two continued to converse and talk over one another, Cruz informed Rowe that his usage of the term “bicameral” was incorrect because he is not a member of Congress.

According to sources within the Secret Service, there weren’t enough personnel available to defend Trump due to the NATO summit taking place in Washington, D.C., as well as first lady Jill Biden’s campaign event taking place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to the Daily Caller.

Cruz: “What was the relative size of the Trump detail compared to the detail that is assigned to the President and the First Lady?”

Rowe: “Senator, the former president travels with a full shift, just like the president.”

Cruz then asked Rowe to clarify if it was “the exact same size.”

Rowe: “On the day of, in Butler, the agents surrounding him, it is the same number of agents surrounding the president today.”

The Texas senator chimed in after the last statement to clarify his use of the term “president,” asking for a second time 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 grew frustrated and insisted he was “trying to answer.”

Cruz: “You are not answering it. Is it the same number of agents or not? Sir, you are refusing to answer straight.

Rowe tries to interject.

Cruz: “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.”

As the testimony and discussion became more heated, Rowe finally informed Cruz that he would give him the precise number so he could see it with “own eyes.”

Meanwhile, Rowe emphasized the breakdowns in communication that occurred during the Butler event throughout Tuesday’s hearing, claiming that data regarding Crooks was “stuck” and “siloed” in local law enforcement channels.

Rowe: “The only thing we had was that locals were working an issue at the three o’clock, which would have been the former president’s right-hand side, which is where the shot came… Nothing about man on the roof, nothing about man with a gun. None of that information ever made it over our net.”

However, Rowe’s last statement highly contradicts other news reports and testimonies by local law enforcement.

Although the FBI still hasn’t disclosed a motive for the failed assassination attempt, CNN reported on Tuesday that the CEO of the website “Gab,” Andrew Torba, claimed last week that law enforcement contacted him and said there’s a chance the would-be assassin had an account on his alternative social media platform. The aforementioned account, according to Torba, was “pro-Biden.”

The FBI is alleging that Trump’s attempted assassin was motivated by “extreme” anti-immigration sentiments.

Yet, Crook’s Gab account more recently espoused pro-immigration, pro-lockdown & pro-Biden views contrary to their claims.

I confronted the Deputy Director about this  pic.twitter.com/PR8rTzg5Dq

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 30, 2024

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