New bodycam footage of fateful Trump rally prompts new questions of Secret Service

As the nation strives to learn more about the events that led to the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, new evidence has emerged that brings that fateful day into vivid relief.

Butler Township, Pennsylvania, officials have released new bodycam footage depicting the moment officers first encountered the rooftop shooter before he fired shots at the rally crowd, video which raises new questions about warnings allegedly given to the Secret Service in advance of the attack, as NBC News reports.

Harrowing footage released

One of the recently released videos shows a Butler Township officer being lifted onto the roof of the building adjacent to the stage where Trump was set to speak.

The officer at issue is seen peering over the roof and then dropping low and running to a police car,

It has been reported that this is the moment when the officer locked eyes with would-be assassin Thomas Crooks, who pointed his gun at the officer and prompted his retreat.

A second clip, also released last week, showed another Butler Township officer speaking about the shooting and declaring soon after the shooting that days before the event, he had discussed with the Secret Service the dangers posed by the building from which Crooks fired.

The officer mentioned that he “told them they needed to post the guys over here. I told them that,” and when he was asked to whom he had made that claim, he said, “the Secret Service.”

Grassley wants answers

In the wake of these revelations, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has demanded that the Secret Service provide insight into the comments made by the Butler Township officer, as Fox News reports.

The lawmaker also wants the agency to respond to claims made during recent congressional testimony by Acting Director Ronald Rowe regarding line-of sight, locally based counter-snipers present on the day in question, an issue that has been a subject of disagreement between the Secret Service and local police.

Grassley wrote in a letter to Rowe, “Were you aware of this body camera footage before your July 30 congressional testimony? If not, why not?”

The senator also wants Rowe to “describe in detail” the meeting local police say took place with Secret Service agents and to “list all local, state, and federal personnel present at that meeting, provide all records and precisely answer whether the statement from the Butler Township officer is an accurate representation of events.”

Given the pattern of obfuscation and seeming dishonesty that has characterized the Secret Service's assessment of what precipitated the near assassination of a former president last month, it remains an open question whether Grassley will receive anything close to a satisfactory or illuminating response to his inquiry.