Explosive exchange about 9/11 at Secret Service hearing
A task force is investigating the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and Texas GOP Rep. Pat Fallon got into a screaming match Thursday during a hearing before a House task force investigating the assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump.
Fallon yelled about Rowe's attendance at the 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York City in September. He accused Rowe of putting President Joe Biden's Secret Service detail out of position so he could sit behind Biden, using a poster-sized photo showing Rowe's face circled near the president.
He accused the acting director of putting the life of the president in jeopardy to audition for the job.
"Congressman, what you're not seeing is the [Special Agent in Charge] of the detail off out of the picture's view. And that is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11," Rowe said Thursday. "I actually responded to ground zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills."
Fallon yelled at Rowe, asking if he were the special agent in charge.
"I was there to show respect for members that died on 9/11," Rowe yelled back his finger pointing at Fallon. "Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes," Rowe shouted.
"Oh, I am not," Fallon responded.
"You are sir," Rowe yelled back. "And you are out of line!"
"I am an elected member of Congress, and I'm asking you a serious question," Fallon said.
"I am a public servant who has served," Rowe yelled back.
Earlier, Rowe told the House panel investigating the assassination attempt there is a heightened threat environment, and the Secret Service has already made changes to ensure such an attempt doesn't happen again.
"We are operating in a heightened threat environment with expanding protection requirements, and this requires a shift in the Secret Service's levels of protection, readiness and sustainability," Rowe told Congress. "A paradigm shift focuses on elevating protection, prioritizing training, strengthening our workforce and increasing accountability."