Former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano speaks after leaving the Supreme Court following oral arguments on President Trump’s decision to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, at the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday appointed one of his predecessors, Janet Napolitano, to serve on a bipartisan panel of experts conducting a 45-day independent investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
The committee will also include two national security officials from the administration of former President George W. Bush, former Homeland Security Adviser Francis Townsend and former Deputy Attorney General Mark Phillips.
David Mitchell, a former Maryland State Police commissioner and former Delaware Department of Public Safety commissioner, will also serve on the committee, and Mayorkas said he could add more experts to the committee in the coming days.
“We are committed to getting to the truth of what happened on July 13th, and I am grateful to the distinguished members of this independent investigation who bring decades of expertise in law enforcement and public safety to this important investigation,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
“Ensuring the safety and security of current and former presidents is vital and one of our Department’s top priorities. The men and women of the Secret Service perform one of the most solemn and challenging jobs in our government, making us the premier security organization in the world,” Mayorkas continued.
According to a DHS press release, the committee is tasked with examining “the planning and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during and after the rally, as well as the policies and procedures established by the U.S. Secret Service.”
According to a DHS press release, rather than waiting for a report at the end of the investigation, Mayorkas asked the committee to provide immediate emergency recommendations so that changes can be implemented quickly, if needed.
“This independent investigation will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to best fulfill their unfailing mission and ensure this never happens again,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
Mayorkas also promised that the findings of the investigation would be made public to the public, echoing President Biden’s thinking last week when he ordered an independent investigation into the shooting.
“At yesterday’s rally, I ordered an independent national security investigation to assess exactly what happened, and I will share the results of that independent investigation with the American people,” Biden said last Sunday, adding, “We must come together as one country.”
Napolitano has publicly criticized Trump, mocking the former president in an April interview.
“First of all, for former President Trump to be running as the so-called law and order candidate is like saying I play in the NBA. I mean, that’s simply … not true,” she said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
The DHS announcement came after the attempted assassination of President Trump at a campaign rally last Saturday shocked the nation and raised questions about how a gunman was able to fire from a building relatively close to the stage where Trump was speaking.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the Secret Service’s response, and a Homeland Security Department statement on Sunday said the independent investigation “will be conducted in a manner that does not interfere with the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation or any other criminal investigations.”
