“That is the day when we remember the more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center, I was there at Fresh Kills,” Rowe said as both men began to shout.
“I was asking you if you were the special agent in charge,” Fallon replied, interrupting Rowe.
“I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11.” Rowe added, “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes. You are out of line, congressman, way out of line.”
“Don’t try to bully me, I am an elected member of Congress and I’m asking you a serious question and you are playing politics,” Fallon said.
Rowe yelled back, described himself as a public servant, and complained that Fallon had invoked the nation’s “darkest day” and had politicized it.
Following the hearing Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi told The Hill, “U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe was invited to the September 11 Memorial Ceremony in New York this year to honor the victims of that tragic day, including the members of the Secret Service who were killed. All detail personnel were present and had complete access to their protectees during the memorial.”
In a previous hearing, then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified that the shooting—where one attendee was shot and killed—was the “most significant operational failure” of the agency in decades. Cheatle later resigned from her position following criticism of the agency from both parties.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced in July that Rowe, who had been serving as deputy director of the Secret Service, would be appointed as interim director.
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