Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announces independent review of Donald Trump assassination plot, rally shooting

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there will be a bipartisan, independent review of the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

The independent review will be made up of four people: former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano; Frances Townsend, the 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, the former superintendent of Maryland State Police and former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Delaware.

Mayorkas said he could invite additional experts to join the panel in the coming days.

The group will have 45 days to review the policies and procedures of the Secret Service before, during and after the rally on July 13.

“All Americans share a concern about the safety of our public officials,” members of the independent review panel said in a joint statement. “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.”

Mayorkas said his department is committed to being transparent with the findings.

Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle is set to testify Monday before the House Oversight Committee.

The Secret Service Director issued the following statement:

“We are eager to cooperate with the independent security review of the U.S. Secret Service’s actions related to the July 13 assassination attempt of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again. 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. The U.S. Secret Service has a no-fail mission, and I will take every necessary step to ensure the safety and security of our protectees – and that the U.S. Secret Service emerges from this stronger.”