The horrid attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Bulter, Pennsylvania, has the entire nation justifiably outraged and demanding answers to fundamental questions about the colossal security failure that nearly ended the life of the 45th president of the United States.
Few actions rise to the level of a clear and present danger to our nation’s democracy like an attempt to kill the former leader of the free world and the current front-runner to assume that role once again.
While we mourn the death of Corey Comperatore and stand grateful that Trump and others who were injured survived the attack, Americans need answers and transparency now.
As the government continues to withhold critical information from the American people about how such a lapse in security could have happened, we must resist the temptation to fill in the blanks with speculation, conspiracy theories, and misinformation. Now more than ever, we must remain relentlessly focused on the truth.
During my 35-year law enforcement career, I have worked with the men and woman of the Secret Service countless times and found them to be some of the most dedicated public servants I know.
The day of the attack, we saw those professionals instinctively and without hesitation throw their bodies on top of the former president to shield him from additional gunfire, willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect his. It was also their sniper team that ended the life of the attacker. So, let’s harness our outrage and acknowledge that seemingly contradictory actions can both be true concerning that fateful day—unimaginable failure and incredible heroism.
So, how can we seek the truth in a way that the nation will trust and accept?
The best way forward is for Congress to immediately appoint an independent commission consisting of subject matter experts from outside the current administration, free from political influence.
Why?
Because no existing entity in the federal government is both trusted to produce honest results and capable of doing so in a timely manner.
Take the attorney general and the FBI, for example. Both have vowed to vigorously investigate the assassination attempt. But unfortunately—and as a retired FBI special agent, it’s painful for me to acknowledge this—the Justice Department and the bureau long ago lost the confidence of the American people. According to an NBC poll published earlier this month, just 37% of registered voters said they had a positive view of the FBI. This perception is now our country’s reality.
The American people have even less faith in the ability of the impeached secretary of homeland security, Alejando Mayorkas, to provide a truthful and objective analysis of the attack free from political influence and self-serving protectionism.
Mayorkas has overtly politized the Department of Homeland Security’s mission, repeatedly lied to the American people, and eroded our nation’s trust in the system of justice. Americans have lost trust in his leadership. Moreover, the Secret Service director has clearly shown her intentions to deflect any personal accountability through a litany of nonsensical self-serving statements in the aftermath of the attack.
Finally, Congress, just as the FBI and DHS, lacks the trust among a majority of Americans to conduct an inquiry free from the political biases and theatrics we’ve become accustomed to. Additionally, Congress simply doesn’t possess the basic authorities or capacity to conduct a full and complete investigation.
This was on full display nearly nine years ago, when then-Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, oversaw a bipartisan committee to investigate a series of high-profile security failures during the Obama administration. The committee produced a series of meaningful recommendations for the Secret Service, but history still repeated itself, and enforcement of the report was blocked by political maneuvering and lack of interest, resulting in it being largely ignored.
For all these reasons, Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., has already called for the creation of an independent commission.
The commission would be charged with preparing a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt, including preparedness for—and the immediate response to—the attack as well as the associated investigation. The commission would also be directed to provide recommendations designed to guard against future acts of violence directed at current and former presidents and/or presidential candidates.
The House of Representatives has pledged to form a bipartisan “task force” to investigate the assassination attempt. But we’ve been down this road before, and calling it by a different name won’t change the implicit perception and inherit distrust of the American people in what is still a political process. If we are going to have a fighting chance to achieve the required confidence in the final reporting, including recommendations and accountability, we cannot rely on business as usual.
The death of Comperatore and near killing of Trump demands a transparent and trustworthy process people can have confidence in. An independent commission is the only way to deliver that for the American people.