WATCH LIVE: Acting Secret Service director pressed on Trump assassination attempt after telltale texts released
Text messages show an officer took photos of Thomas Matthew Crooks shortly before he opened fire on former President Trump.
The new acting director of the Secret Service is testifying before Congress on Tuesday alongside a senior FBI official regarding the assassination attempt against former President Trump.
Acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy director Paul Abbate are appearing for a joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. It is the first time a member of the Secret Service appears before Congress since the resignation of former chief Kimberly Cheatle earlier this month.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for Rowe's prepared remarks to the committees.
Rowe has assumed the helm of the Secret Service as elected officials and the public grow increasingly wary of the agency following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
The new acting director of the Secret Service (pictured) will testify before Congress on Tuesday alongside a senior FBI official regarding the assassination attempt against former President Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rowe is now responsible for leading the more than 7,800 special agents, uniformed division officers and technical law enforcement officers, as well as administrative and technical staff.
Prior to joining the Secret Service, Rowe was a member of the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida. West Palm Beach Assistant Police Chief Tony Spatara told CBS 12 that Rowe is "very intelligent" and "well-rounded."
"Knowing him personally, I am very proud he achieved his goal and then some in the Secret Service," Spatara said. "Ron is a very intelligent person who is well-rounded, has a multitude of experience."
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Matthew Crooks leaves an office building in Pittsburgh, PA, Monday, July 29, 2024. Matthew Crooks is the father of would-be Trump assassin, Thomas Crooks. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
Tuesday's hearing comes after the FBI released new details regarding the investigation into the would-be presidential assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks. The FBI told reporters on Monday that Crooks had a long-standing "interest in science" and "experiments," and as a result, his family "wasn't concerned" about the myriad packages he was receiving at their house.
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"The shooter had a long interest in science and things like this and had been doing experiments and things like that over a period of time," said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh Field Office. "For that reason, [his family] wasn't concerned that [the packages] were focused on committing an attack of this nature of harming other people."
Crooks, 20, made 25 gun-related purchases online between spring 2023 and the first half of this year, and bought materials used to make explosives six times, all with aliases, according to the agency.
A map detailing the locations of interest pertaining to the investigation of Thomas Crooks' attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley )
President Biden is now tasked with appointing a permanent head of the Secret Service. Biden wrote in a statement that he plans to make his choice "soon."
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"The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again," Biden wrote. "As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon."
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Christina Coulter contributed to this report
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