North Texas Congressman calls for increased Secret Service protection after apparent 2nd assassination attempt on former President Trump
NORTH TEXAS — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said late Monday afternoon that former President Donald Trump has the highest levels of protection from the agency.
He made his comments at a news conference and after speaking with the former president as federal authorities investigate what appears to be the second assassination attempt against Trump.
Rowe also said Trump's golf trip in West Palm Beach on Sunday was not scheduled, so the agency put together a security plan.
Federal court documents filed Monday morning include the suspect Ryan Routh's cell phone records, which show he was around the golf course bushes for 12 hours, with a gun, about 300 to 500 yards away from the president.
Hours before the Secret Service briefing, Republican Congressman Pat Fallon of the 4th District of Texas said he was sick to his stomach when he heard the news.
"It was kind of like this bad Groundhog Day," said Fallon. "Here we go again."
Fallon said Trump needs the highest level of protection: "This is high time for him to get the same compliment that Joe Biden has."
When asked if Vice President Kamala Harris receives the highest level of protection from the Secret Service, Fallon responded, "From what we were told last week, it's close. But it's not quite that level. I think all three of them quite frankly should. If they're not safe, then we fall into the realm of really a banana republic, and this can't happen in the United States of America."
Fallon is a member of the House Oversight Committee and the only Texan in Congress on a bipartisan task force investigating the first assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania.
"There's something called a counter-surveillance team and that's what the president gets," Fallon said. "He gets a full compliment and they're experts and their job is to constantly surveil the perimeter."
A Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania, Chrissy Houlahan, is also on the task force and is expressing concerns too.
"I do have a lot of questions and they largely surround about resources that the Secret Service has and whether or not they're being deployed appropriately because it's simply unacceptable that anybody who's under the protection of the Secret Service is endangered," said Houlahan.
Mr. Biden praised the Secret Service and spoke briefly with reporters outside the White House Monday, adding, "The service needs help."
The Biden administration has asked Congress for special permission to increase spending on the Secret Service in the weeks ahead, even if Congress only passes a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, multiple congressional and administration sources tell CBS News.
A new video released by the Martin County, Florida Sheriff's Office shows Routh as he was being arrested.
Routh appeared in federal court in Palm Beach Monday on two gun charges: possessing a firearm with a prior felony conviction and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Authorities said an agent fired on Routh after spotting the muzzle of the rifle in the trees along the golf course, but that the suspect didn't fire his weapon.
The acting Secret Service director said Routh did not have a line of sight to Trump.
If convicted, Routh faces years in prison. He will be back in federal court next Monday.
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