Acting Secret Service director to testify before Senate with more details about Trump assassination attempt security
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe is set to testify before a joint Senate panel on Tuesday, and offer more detail about the Secret Service’s communications at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a man tried to assassinate Trump.
Rowe is expected to offer details about the security arrangements that were put in place for Trump’s rally on July 13.
Rowe is prepared to tell Senators, that Secret Service leadership was communicating directly with the Butler Emergency Services Unit (ESU) or their equivalent of a SWAT team. The Service says they have uncovered text messages that have been reviewed and interviews they’ve conducted with officials there on site that give them a fuller picture of what took place. The text messages, according to a source, are with a senior official from the Butler ESU team; they detail the Butler official describing the personnel that was available and some information about deployments, according to the source.
The Butler ESU was responsible for helping to put together the security package outside the Secret Service bubble.
The source confirmed that the Secret Service never had direct communications with police from Beaver County, as ABC News reported on Monday morning.
The source said the Secret Service was communicating with Butler and that the Beaver County team was providing mutual aid or support to Butler.
Rowe was named acting director when Director Kim Cheatle resigned. Formerly, he was number 2.
(WASHINGTON) — A Justice Department watchdog on Thursday found that former Attorney General Bill Barr and a Trump-appointed former U.S. Attorney ran afoul of Justice Department policy in their “unusual” handling of a criminal investigation of mail-in ballots during the 2020 election.
Trump later amplified the investigation to support his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
In an 82-page report, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz was highly critical of the steps taken by Barr and former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania David Freed to amplify the otherwise-minor incident involving discarded ballots.
DOJ officials quickly determined the incident was likely a mistake by a mentally-impaired individual, however, those details they refused to make public until well after the election, the report said.
Horowitz also specifically noted he was “troubled” by the way Barr personally briefed Trump on the matter before public details of the investigation had come to light.
While Horowitz ultimately didn’t conclude either Barr or Freed engaged in “misconduct,” he used the report to urge the DOJ to implement a series of reforms that would clarify and tighten certain policies related to the issuing of public statements surrounding criminal investigations as well as contacts with the White House.
The investigation centered on an incident in September 2020, where the FBI had been told by the District Attorney’s Office in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, about an employee of a local elections office who allegedly discarded nine mail-in ballots.
Days after the matter was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Freed issued a public statement on the investigation that stated all nine ballots were cast for Trump, only to later issue a corrected statement that stated seven were cast for Trump while the other two were unknown.
Additionally, Freed’s office took the unusual step of making public a letter he had sent to the Luzerne County Board of Elections that provided additional information on the early stages of their investigation that suggested potential criminal culpability by the individual who discarded the ballots.
“The selective details about the investigation included in the initial MDPA statement and the letter suggested that the actions of the individual who engaged in the conduct were intentional and likely chargeable criminally,” the report states.
“However, even at that early stage of the investigation, Department leadership was aware of information that substantially undercut this narrative—including that the subject of the investigation was mentally impaired, appeared to have discarded the ballots by mistake, and would likely not be criminally charged,” the report added.
And while DOJ quickly determined prior to Election Day that no charges were warranted in the matter, the office declined to issue a statement until Jan. 15, 2021, weeks after Freed resigned from office.
The IG’s investigation found Barr was “personally involved” in the events, and that he “encouraged and authorized” Freed to issue the initial statement that mentioned the ballots were cast for Trump.
“Our investigation also found that Barr briefed President Trump about the Luzerne County investigation the day before the statements were issued and specifically disclosed to the President that the recovered ballots were “marked for Trump,” information that was not public at that time and that Trump revealed on a national radio show the next morning,” the report states.
“Other than Freed and the OPA Director, nearly every DOJ lawyer we interviewed— both career employees and Trump Administration political appointees—emphasized how ‘unusual’ it would be for the Department to issue a public statement containing details about an ongoing criminal investigation, particularly before any charges are filed.”
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough Democratic Party delegate votes to become the party’s nominee, according to the Democratic National Committee. She is set to name her running mate soon, with the two scheduled to embark Tuesday on a seven-state trip of some of the biggest battleground state in the election, according to her campaign.
President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, are set to speak to voters through scheduled rallies and events throughout the week, too. Vance will also be visiting the same battleground states as Harris and her newly minted vice presidential pick.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris grows Pennsylvania volunteers
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is touting its robust ground game in Pennsylvania, saying it’s taking “nothing for granted” in the state, ahead of her running mate reveal, which is expected on Tuesday.
About 33,000 people signed up to volunteer for the campaign in Pennsylvania in the last 15 days, according to a campaign memo. The campaign boasts nearly 300 staffers across three dozen offices in the state, the memo said.
The campaign also said it was “doing the work to make inroads in historically-safe Republican areas.”
The campaign sought to contrast Harris’ record with former President Donald Trump’s, citing the vice president’s time as a prosecutor and saying she “is committed to keeping our communities safe and locking up dangerous crooks, criminals, and predators.”
“With only three months until Election Day, Trump’s campaign still lags far behind in the infrastructure needed to win with just three offices in Pennsylvania,” the Harris campaign memo said. “He’s shown he doesn’t want these voters.”
Kamala Harris earns majority of Democratic roll call votes
Vice President Kamala Harris has officially gotten the vast majority of delegate votes in the virtual roll call that nominates her as the Democratic presidential nominee, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement released late Monday.
The roll call, which concluded on Monday evening, still needs to be certified by Convention Secretary Jason Rae, according to the statement, but the announcement makes Harris’s historic nomination effectively official.
Sens. Sanders, Warren join Progressives for Harris Call: ‘We have to beat Trump in November’
On a three-hour organizing call with over 100,000 attendees, numerous high-profile progressive democrats came out to support Vice President Kamala’s Harris’ presidential bid.
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Joaquin Castro, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar and Jamie Raskin and UAW President Shawn Fain all showed up as well as members of the uncommitted movement who had not yet endorsed Harris but strongly hope she’ll win them over in the next few months.
“The energy and the momentum in this election is on our side. And I am so inspired by the organizing in support of Vice President Harris, starting with the win with black women that mobilized a massive zoom call. And now here tonight, we have progressives coming together,” Warren said on the call.
Sanders, who has not officially said he endorses Harris — although he has encouraged voters to go out and support the candidate — told attendees that “Trump must be defeated” and Harris “must be elected.” He noted that it’s “imperative that Democrats gain control over the House and the Senate.”
“And we in the progressive movement must do all that we can to make that happen,” he added.
“I don’t know if I can add to what has already been said tonight, but my message is pretty clear, and that is all of us together must do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris as our next president,” said Sanders.
Harris campaign selling yard signs without revealing running mate’s name
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is promoting pre-orders for a campaign yard sign with a mockup image featuring her last name and tape and question marks over where her yet-to-be-announced running mate’s last name would be.
“Be one of the first to proudly display your support for Kamala Harris and her running mate,” the campaign said on its website.
JD Vance to also give remarks in same states as Harris this week
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is scheduled to give remarks in the same states on the same days as Vice President Kamala Harris this week, the Trump-Vance campaign announced, as Harris embarks on a battleground state tour.
Vance is scheduled to speak at noon ET in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The event comes as Harris is set to hold a rally with her yet-to-be-announced running mate Tuesday night in the city.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to deliver remarks in the Detroit suburb of Shelby Township, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as Harris also campaigns in those states then.
Then on Thursday, he is set to speak in Raleigh and Oakboro in North Carolina, aligning with Harris’ scheduled visit to the state.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Bon Iver to campaign with Harris in Wisconsin
Bon Iver will join Harris and her running mate on Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — where the Grammy-winning indie folk band was founded — for a “special performance” as part of the campaign’s battleground state tour, the Harris campaign announced on Monday.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and Isabella Murray
Harris still deliberating on VP pick: Source
At this moment, Vice President Harris has not decided on a running mate and is still deliberating, according to a source.
More than 10K people expected at Harris’ Philly rally: Source
More than 10,000 people are expected to attend Harris’ rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where she’ll be joined by her new running mate, according to a source familiar with the plans.
That would make this the biggest event yet for the Harris campaign.
Harris is looking to build off her momentum. Pennsylvania kicks off her swing through seven battleground states in five days.
The pace of her campaign is in stark contrast to Trump’s, which has only one rally scheduled this week — in Montana on Friday.
Usha Vance says husband’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment was a ‘quip’
In her first interview since her husband was named former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Usha Vance sat down with Fox & Friends where she discussed her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment that has gained attention recently — calling it a “quip.”
“The reality is, JD made a quote – I mean, he made a quip, and he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance said of the comments her husband made in 2021. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”
She continued, “What he was really saying is that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country, and sometimes our policies are designed in a way that make it even harder.”
She added that her husband “would never ever ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family who really was struggling with that.”
JD Vance has called the comments “sarcastic.”
“Let’s try to look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families, and for whom it’s really hard,” Usha Vance said on Monday. “What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim
Pelosi says she spoke with Biden ahead of his withdrawal ‘asking for a campaign that would win’
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopolous on Monday morning, said that she spoke with President Joe Biden ahead of his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race “asking for a campaign that would win.” She also said Biden was “the only person that I spoke to” about Biden possibly withdrawing.
“The only person that I spoke to about this was the president. Other people called me about what their views were about it, and — but I rarely even returned a call, much less initiated one,” Pelosi said.
Later, she added, “I wasn’t asking him to step down. I was asking for a campaign that would win, and I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for her running mate is a the “most important” decision she has to make as her campaign gets started, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
All of her choices appear to be good, Pelosi added.
“It’s a difficult decision because they are all so great,” she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Monday. “It is the most important decision for her to make. Not just about who can help win, but who can help serve and lead and whose confidence she trusts.”
Harris and to-be-announced running mate to launch seven-state tour Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, who is yet to be named, will go on tour, hitting seven battleground states in five days, the Harris campaign said Monday.
The tour will be an effort to “introduce the new Democratic ticket” and “speak directly with voters in their communities and cement the contrast between our ticket and Trump’s,” campaign said.
The tour, which kicks off Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will feature rallies in cities and stops at college campuses, including HBCUs, union halls, family-owned restaurants and their field offices, the campaign said.
The tour will continue through Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada, the campaign said.
Harris interviewing top VP contenders today at her residence: Source
Vice President Harris is meeting with top running mate candidates Sunday at her residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., according to a source familiar with the matter.
Harris is meeting with at least three leading contenders — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, according to the source.
The meetings were earlier reported by The New York Times.
Sen. JD Vance says he wears VP pick criticism as a ‘badge of honor’
In a Fox News interview Sunday, Sen. JD Vance responded to criticism of him being picked as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, saying he takes it as a “badge of honor.”
“All I can do is go out there and prosecute the case against Kamala Harris to remind people that things were more prosperous and more peaceful when Donald Trump was president,” Vance said. “Look, I recognize there are a lot of folks even in the GOP establishment and certainly on the far left who don’t like the fact that Donald Trump picked me, I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor.”
Vance also hit back at Democrats who’ve called him “weird,” calling it “a lot of projection.”
“They can call me whatever they want to. The middle school taunts don’t bother me,” he said. “What offends me is what Kamala Harris has done to this country over three and a half years.”
Harris campaign launches ‘Republicans for Harris’ outreach program
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign announced Sunday that it would be launching a “Republicans for Harris” program aimed at reaching Republican voters who could be convinced to vote for Harris. The program will include digital advertising, phone banking, events and other initiatives, according to the campaign.
The program — and Harris herself — have been endorsed by a number of Republican figures, including former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
“I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy, and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham wrote in a statement released by the Harris campaign.
The “Republicans for Harris” program will hold kickoff events starting this week, per the campaign.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump and his campaign are reeling from the surprise announcement that President Joe Biden was ending his reelection bid, forced to pivot their infrastructure toward a new candidate as Trump himself airs out his frustrations publicly.
Trump campaign officials have publicly expressed confidence they can defeat any Democratic candidate; however, privately, sources have aired out frustrations surrounding new advertisement and messaging strategies.
Since Biden’s announcement, Trump has taken to his social media platform to post more than 10 times, offering real-time insight into the changes Trump is going to have to make as he now has to prepare for competing against a new candidate, likely Vice President Kamala Harris.
The former president is still focusing much of his attacks on Biden, barely mentioning Harris, as he pushed unfounded claims that Biden isn’t actually recovering from COVID, questioned how Biden would be able to serve the rest of his term, and even argued the Republican Party should be reimbursed for the money they’ve spent on challenging Biden.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!” Trump first posted, continuing to post well into Sunday night — then started up early Monday morning.
Though campaign officials have already started to pivot their focus to Harris, posting new ads and highlighting her gaffes, Trump unveiled the realities of the wasted money and resources the Trump team now has to deal with.
“Now we have to start all over again. Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe,” he said in a post Sunday night.
Sources have complained to ABC News that they won’t be able to use ads they had ready to go, including ones that highlighted Biden’s poor debate performance.
It’s unclear how much exactly the Trump campaign had spent on ads directly attacking Biden this election cycle, but pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., which has stricter disclosure requirements on ads than the campaign, had spent more than $30 million on ad placements attacking Biden.
However, the super PAC is already attacking Harris with several “flashbacks” using her own words in an attempt to remind voters on what they believe is a failed record — rolling out a $5 million ad campaign in battleground states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s decision, it appears the Trump campaign and his allies’ messaging is focused on linking the Biden administration’s policies to Harris as well as criticizing Democrats for the unprecedented actions to the electoral process.
Much of Biden’s campaign has been centered around labeling Trump a “threat to democracy,” pointing to his legal cases and continuously highlighting the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, Trump is flipping the argument, saying Democrats “stole” the race from Biden after primary voters chose him as the party’s nominee.
“The Democrats pick a candidate, Crooked Joe Biden, he loses the Debate badly, then panics, and makes mistake after mistake, is told he can’t win, and decide they will pick another candidate, probably Harris,” Trump said. “They stole the race from Biden after he won it in the primaries — A First! These people are the real THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!”
Last week, Trump’s vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance floated that if Biden doesn’t seek reelection, then he should resign. Trump picked up this rhetoric following Biden’s decision to step down saying, “If he can’t run for office, he can’t run our Country!!!”
“If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president. And if they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th Amendment,” Vance said during a sit-down interview with Fox News’ Jesse Waters taped on Saturday.
“You don’t get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats. If it’s an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way,” Vance continued.
Trump, who clinched the Republican nomination for a third time at the Republican National Convention, suggested that the election was stolen in 2020. He classified his new campaign as competing for a “fourth time.”
“Crooked Joe just got knocked out, so now I’ll have to do it a FOURTH TIME!!!” Trump posted.
While Democrats try to lock in enough delegates for Harris to assume the top of the ticket in the coming days, the Trump campaign is forced to move forward with a new campaign strategy this week. It’s a significant shift with a little more than 100 days until Election Day, in which Trump said he believed he would win by a “monumental landslide,” picking up wins in battleground states and expanding the map to Minnesota, New Jersey and Virginia.