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America First Legal sued the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, claiming the agencies were not honoring requests to provide records related to President Donald Trump’s July assassination attempt.
AFL, founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, submitted expedited records requests shortly after the tragic shooting but has not received a response concerning any of the documents.
“On July 13, the American people watched in horror as a lunatic attempted to assassinate former President, and current candidate for President, Donald Trump. Today, there is widespread and bipartisan acknowledgment that there were catastrophic failures that tragic day and in the weeks and months ahead of it,” AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton wrote in a statement.
“We are committed to obtaining these records so that the American people can see for themselves exactly what senior DHS leadership was prioritizing in its mission and why more resources were not devoted to the protection of President Donald J. Trump,” he added.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal also expressed his frustration over the lack of response by the agencies, as cited in the AFL’s press release.
“I am reaching the point of total outrage because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking. In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects,” he told reporters.
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson also pushed back over the investigation during a recent interview.
“[The] toxicology report; we don’t have any of the trajectory reports. So, where’d the bullets go? We don’t even know how they handled the crime scene,” Johnson said on Fox News.
A recent whistleblower report released by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also blasted the lack of transparency in the assassination attempt investigation.
“Following this catastrophic failure, the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have all tried to evade real accountability. These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility,” Hawley wrote.
The July shooting by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks included one bullet grazing the right ear of President Donald Trump. The eight shots also led to the death of one man, former fire chief Corey Comperatore. Two other men were seriously injured, including David Dutch, 57, and Jim Copenhaver, 74.