A Thursday, December 5, hearing before a House of Representatives task force investigating the two assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump turned into a chaotic yelling match when Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) and acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe got into a sparring match over the Secret Service’s job performance.
The clash, which was characterized mainly by shouting and lobbed accusations of politicizing 9/11, came when Rep. Fallon displayed a photograph of Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump at a September 11 memorial ceremony, and noted that Rowe was absent from from the picture. Rep. Fallon used it to ask why Rowe, as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the security detail for that visit, was not visibly present.
Fallon, pointing to the photo and asking Rowe about his job and how was going it that day, said, “Who is usually at an event like this closest to the President of the United States?” Continuing, he then asked, “Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?” Rowe, noting that the security detail was out of view of the camera, got increasingly enraged.
Quickly getting heated, Rowe declared, “That is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center.” Fallon snapped back, “I’m not asking that, I’m asking you, if you were… were you the special agent in charge!?”
Rowe, raising his voice to respond to Rep. Fallon’s question about the security detail, shouted back, “I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11!” he yelled back. Continuing to scream at the Congressman, Rowe then also shouted, “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Fallon, shouting back, snapped, “I’m not.”
The two also argued about Rowe’s position and presence with the security detail on that day, with Rowe arguing that his role requires him to work behind the scenes for things to go smoothly rather than be directly present. He added, yelling at Rep. Fallon “Protective operations were not affected. Don’t try to bully me!”
With the screaming match shocking the room, the committee chairman started banging his gavel and demanding order, doing his best to get them to stop. Rowe, fuming after the exchange, yelled, “You are, sir. You are out of line, congressman! Way out of line.” Rep. Fallon, firing back, noted that Rowe hadn’t answered his question and was “playing politics” in refusing to answer. “I am an elected member of Congress and I’m asking you a serious question and you are playing politics,” he yelled. Watch them here:
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The hearing comes after two attempted assassinations on now-President-elect Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, with the public having lost a great degree of trust in the Secret Service after Matthew Crooks was somehow able to get multiple shots off at Trump during his rally in Butler, PA, despite having been spotted well before the shooting. Congress aimed to provide clarity on the failures involved in that happening, but many questions remained unanswered after the hearing.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video