It was a hearing on Capitol Hill that could probably have been heard in the hallway.
A full-on shouting match erupted Thursday as Texas Rep. Pat Fallon grilled acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe about Rowe’s position at September’s commemoration ceremony for the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Fallon has been a consistent, outspoken critic of the Secret Service’s performance. Rowe, who has a history of tangling with Republicans on the Hill, didn’t take the questioning kindly.
Heated exchange between @RepPatFallon and U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Rowe.
Rowe: “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!”
Fallon: “I’m not. I’m invoking -“
Rowe: “You are, sir. You are way out of line!” pic.twitter.com/LR28SDci5I
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 5, 2024
The purpose of the hearing was investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Fallon’s questioning was scathing in its tone, considering how close Trump came to dying that day. The near-assassination cost former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle her job, and put Rowe in the acting director job he now holds.
The full exchange is on video below:
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But it was in the final moments that Fallon used the opportunity to accuse Rowe of “auditioning” for the job of Secret Service on a permanent basis.
Fallon had staff members put a picture of the 9/11 commemoration ceremony on an easel. The picture showed Rowe standing directly behind Vice President Kamala Harris and close to President Joe Biden.
“Who’s usually, at an event like this, closest to the president of the United States?” Fallon asked. “Security-wise.”
“The SAC of the detail,” Rowe responded, using Secret Service jargon for “special agent in charge.”
“The special agent in charge of the detail,” Fallon echoed. “Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?”
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The implication was that Rowe had no business being that close to Biden if he were not in charge. And he wasn’t the SAC at the ceremony.
Rowe caught it immediately, and launched into an attack on Fallon’s line of questioning, accusing him of tainting the memory of a day that should be sacred.
“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes, Congressman!” Rowe shouted, pointing a finger for emphasis.
“You are out of line, Congressman. Way out of line!”
Fallon fired right back.”You know why you were there?” he shouted. “You were there because you wanted to be visible, because you’re auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get!”
The hearing was eventually gaveled back to order, but it was a moment for Americans to remember.
The man who currently heads the agency charged with protecting the life of the president and presidential candidates — an agency that failed grievously in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July — faced a grilling from a Republican congressman clearly, and loudly, unhappy with the answers he was getting.
Fallon has his job thanks to the voters of his Texas congressional district. Rowe would have his job thanks to the American people as a whole.
How they feel about having a Secret Service director who loses his composure like this, who thinks this is an appropriate way to deal with an elected representative (and this isn’t Rowe’s first shouting match with a Republican in Congress), is a question that’s still to be answered.
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