Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed a bipartisan, independent panel to review the assassination attempt on former President Trump, the Associated Press reports. Panel members will have “extensive law enforcement and security experience to conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures,” the Department of Homeland Security said. Panel members include former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush; Mark Filip, a former federal judge and deputy attorney general to President George W. Bush; and David Mitchell, former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the state of Delaware.
Other experts could be asked to join the group in the coming days. The panel will review the policies and procedures of the Secret Service before, during and after the rally on July 13 where a gunman fired at Trump in Butler, Pa. “We formed this bipartisan group to quickly identify improvements the U.S. Secret Service can implement to enhance their work. We must all work together to ensure events like July 13 do not happen again,” members of the review panel said in a joint statement. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle said she welcomes the review. “I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again,” Cheatle said. “The U.S. Secret Service is continuing to take steps to review our actions internally and remain committed to working quickly and transparently with other investigations, including those by Congress, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.” Cheatle testifying Monday before the House Oversight Committee.
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