Montana lawmakers want answers from Secret Service

Montana’s representatives in Congress, many of whom have shared a stage with Donald Trump, pivoted Sunday to toning down political rhetoric and investigating how a would-be assassin came within 140 yards of the former president at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday.

The assassination attempt, which killed a bystander and injured two others and resulted in the death of the shooter, was the latest in a string of violent threats and incidents against elected office holders. Members of Montana’s delegation have dealt with threats of violence in recent years.

“How did the shooter climb up there without being stopped? And why was it that he wasn’t apprehended before the shots started?” U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale said.

“You understand this, when you take a rifle, the difference between hitting [Trump’s] ear and hitting him square in the forehead at 130 yards is such a small, minuscule movement of the gun.” Rosendale, the Republican representing Montana’s eastern district.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer notified U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Saturday evening that he expects her to appear before the committee July 22.

Rosendale and Montana’s Western District Rep Ryan Zinke said the results of a House investigation aren’t likely to come until after the Nov. 5 election. Congress has just a handful of workdays in Washington D.C. before members return to their home states later this month. The federal budget usually takes up most of Congress’ work during September before lawmakers depart again in October to campaign.

In addition to failing to identify and apprehend the shooter ahead of time, security officials also failed to evacuate Trump quickly enough once the shooting started, according to Zinke, a retired Navy SEAL. The former president shouldn’t have had time to expose himself to the crowd, raise a fist and utter a message before leaving. No one knew at the time if Trump was still in danger.

“When your principal is under threat, he is down and out and gone. And I mean gone. He doesn’t have time to comment about, ‘hey where are my shoes,’ or go to the flag and raise a fist. He doesn’t have time for any of that,” Zinke said. “I understand that the president is grateful, as he should be, for their action, but there was some mis-action that I don’t think can be overlooked.”

U.S. Jon Tester, who was invited to comment for this article, issued a letter Sunday asking leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to investigate the attack, as well.

“In America, you should be able to peacefully attend a political rally or support any candidate you want without fearing for your safety,” Tester wrote. “What happened yesterday has no doubt shaken that belief, but our great nation has always responded to ugly events like this by coming together. Today and the weeks ahead should be no different.”

Threats and acts of violence against politicians have been prevalent for the last few years. Two different men have been sentenced to prison for threatening Tester, Montana’s only statewide elected Democrat, in the last three years. In May, Anthony James Cross, of Billings was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for threatening to kill the senator. In August 2023, Kevin Patrick Smith, of Kalispell, received the same 30-month sentence plus three years of supervision for repeatedly phoning in murder threats to Tester’s regional office.

In February, Rosendale cited threats against himself and his family as reasons for not seeking a third term in the U.S. House. There have been no details released or charges filed.

Zinke said several threats were made against his family and staff while he was Secretary of Interior from 2017 to 2019. 

Two members of the U.S. House have been shot since 2011.

“Gabby Giffords was certainly not a national figure. She was a member from Arizona, right?” Zinke said. “More recently Steve Scalise and that could have been multiple members.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Giffords was a shot in the head outside a Safeway grocery store near Tuscon, Arizona, where she planned to visit with walk-up constituents on Jan 8, 2011, the Associated Press reported.

Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, was shot during a House baseball team practice at a public park ini Virginia on June 14, 2017. Four people were injured by a gunman who fired 60 rounds, according to the AP.

In 2022, a man broke into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco and assaulted the Democrat’s husband with a hammer. The attacker indicated that the speaker, who wasn’t home, was his intended target.

“I think that the rhetoric is way too severe,” Rosendale told Montana Free Press. “You have talked to me many, many times over the years, and I really try to focus all my comments and my discussions on policy, not upon anything personal. I really, really do. And while everybody does not do that … I don’t know that rhetoric causes violence. I think that it is a reflection of the society that we live in, a society that, here’s what I will tell you, places such a low value on life. This is some of the byproduct that you end up with.”

Partly for the same reason that investigative hearings on the Secret Service are unlikely to advance before the election, neither Zinke nor Rosendale expects to see legislation focused on gun control to advance. Neither representative supports gun control, but both expect Democrats in the House to introduce a bill. Rosendale said a bill increasing surveillance powers for the government has some Republican supporters and could follow a path like gun control.

Zinke said he could see Democrats introducing a gun control bill to highlight the legislation in their campaigns.

“The Democrats, what cards do they have to play? They can’t play ‘Biden’s OK.’ He’s not OK. They can’t play Kamala Harris is a great replacement because she’s the only one that has numbers lower than Biden’s. So now the only thing they can play is what? Abortion. Maybe gun control.”

Tom Lutey is a reporter for the Montana Free Press, a nonprofit Helena-based newsroom, and can be reached at tlutey@montanafreepress.org.