Senators told Secret Service had flagged gunman as suspicious hour before Trump rally shooting

Senators were told during a briefing call Wednesday that the Secret Service had flagged Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious more than an hour before he shot from a rooftop at former President Trump, and that a countersniper spotted him as a potential threat 19 minutes before the shooting, according to a person familiar with the call.

Senators held a half-hour conference call Wednesday with U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray, as well as with Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

They were also told the shooter visited the rally site for 20 or 30 minutes on July 7 to scout out the location and also visited it the morning of the rally.

A law enforcement sniper spotted Crooks using a range finder before he used a ladder to climb up onto the roof of a building adjacent to Trump’s rally site and radioed an alert to a command post.

Law enforcement hasn’t been able to determine the shooter’s motive or to find any ideological materials that would shed light on why he tried to kill the former president. But the briefers noted that Crooks was using encrypted communications platforms that they have yet to penetrate, according to the source.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) asked the Secret Service whether it had the ability to deploy drones during the event to detect potential threats from elevated positions and was told by Cheatle that the agency has that capability but that drones were not in use at the rally in Butler, Pa.

Republican senators quickly vented their displeasure with the briefing.

“So far they’re flooding us with details that aren’t all that helpful. I have yet to hear them substantively address the failures that led to this tragedy,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) posted on the social media platform X.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) panned the briefing as “unbelievably uninformative.”

“Only 4 questions were allowed. The rest of us are supposed to submit questions. I already have. Awaiting a response. Not holding my breath,” the Wisconsin senator fumed.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called on the Secret Service and FBI to hold daily briefings to update the American public about the findings of their investigations as it progresses.

“The security of our Republic is being questioned. The Biden administration can’t wait until the investigation is complete to release details. It needs to start today,” Scott said in a statement.

He said it is “imperative” for Wray, Cheatle and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to “hold a daily public press conference to share updates with the American people and answer questions about what happened, who is being held accountable and how we make sure it never happens again.”

Soon after the call ended, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) called for Cheatle to be replaced as head of the Secret Service.

“Last week’s near-assassination of former President Trump was a grave attack on American democracy. The nation deserves answers and accountability. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction,” he said in a statement posted on social media.

The briefers held a 45-minute call with House members just after the Senate one, in which a source familiar with the call said members received only limited information in response to their questions.

Although the briefers confirmed on the call there is an increased threat, that did not match the threat posture and information Congress is seeing, according to the source. The timeline also did not match what Congress has been told.

A classified briefing with House members is being planned for next week, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — who earlier on Wednesday called for Cheatle’s resignation — reiterated that he looks forward to the Secret Service and FBI directors’ cooperation. 

Emily Brooks contributed.