SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Kimberly Cheatle, director of the U.S. Secret Service, faces sharp questions following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Monday, she testifies before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, is on that committee and joins us now. Congressman, thanks for being with us.
TIM BURCHETT: Thank you for having me, sir.
SIMON: It's been a week to the day since the shooting, and let me just put it this way - how could somebody get a rifle up on a roof so close to a former president of the United States who was being protected by the Secret Service?
BURCHETT: That's the million-dollar question that everybody wants to know. And I guess further from that is when they knew he was up there, and they left President Trump to be able to come out on the stage, and then, when he was shot, why did they not rush him off the stage? And then, of course, the iconic picture with his fist in the air - that should have never happened. The agent should have never - there should never have been an agent shorter than him guarding him, especially from the front. You should never have even been able to see him at that point. So there's a whole lot of questions, a whole lot of questions.
SIMON: I gather lawmakers were briefed with more details by the FBI and Secret Service in recent days. Is there anything you can share with us? Any other questions you'd like to raise?
BURCHETT: Well, the reality is that, no, they were not. We were not able to ask questions, and we're sort of kept in the secret. We were told - Secretary Mayorkas sent mixed signals. We were told that, in fact, Ms. Cheatle was not going to be able to testify, and now we're told she will be.
I think another question that needs to be asked as well, was, apparently, this kid had a drone, and he had surveyed the site, and our own people did not have a drone or anything in the air. So there was a complete breakdown. And I think another - the long-term effect of it is that no one trusts the government - I mean, even people on the left and the right. And then when they don't - when they delay this thing, as they did, or give us mixed signals, that just feeds the conspiracy fires.
SIMON: Secret Service director Cheatle says that the buck stops with her. Should she step down? Should she be fired?
BURCHETT: Yes, sir. I believe she should be. I believe it shows that - and what we're uncovering, too, is we have a few whistleblowers that are coming forward that are telling us just the breakdown in that system that they've continued to have for quite some time. And, you know, the Secret Service is just that. It is a secret sort of organization, so you don't really pierce the veil so much as some of the other agencies.
And so we've really - I mean, you know, they've had problems in the past with the cocaine in the White House and calling off the investigation after just a very short amount of time. And they said they were down to 200 suspects, and so they decided to call the investigation off. So I realize that they work at the pleasure or the leisure or whatever of the president of the United States, but we've got to get to that. That's why Mr. Kennedy was not afforded protection, and I just thought that was a bad mistake from the start.
SIMON: And I gather he's going to be - have protection now.
BURCHETT: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
SIMON: Let me ask you, the shooter, Thomas Crooks, 20 years old, bought 50 rounds of ammunition at a gun shop before the shooting. Should somebody who is not old enough to buy a beer be able to buy ammunition?
BURCHETT: Well, that's a question that needs to be answered as well. And did he legally purchase that? I just - I don't know. I don't know what the - you know, the laws concerning firearms and ammunition. I just think, now, with computer-generated - I mean, excuse me - computer-printed products that we're going to have a real hard time putting that genie back in the bottle at any time now, because with the ability for these young people to print and produce these things, we're going to have a real problem.
And that's going to - that's going work with - that'll mostly be, I think, with automatic weapons. I've seen - I've been briefed on that in the past, how they are able to produce those things. So rules and regulations - the only people who follow those are the law-abiding citizens.
SIMON: We've got half a minute left. House Speaker Johnson says he'll form a bipartisan taskforce. Is there a bipartisan opportunity here for both parties to come together?
BURCHETT: I think there is. I think there really is. I would hope that we'd put aside our political differences and show that we have a problem because that could have been President Biden, and that bullet could have been a half inch over. And would we be having the same conversation right now? No, I'd be standing on the street corner yelling that we need some change at the Secret Service.
SIMON: Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee. Thanks so much for joining us this morning, sir.
BURCHETT: Thank you for having me.
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