WATCH: Secret Service Hearing EXPLODES After Senator Josh Hawley Demands Accountability From Director - 'Fire Somebody!'

During testimony before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees on Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) got into a shouting match with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Jr. for his agency's failure and his unwillingness to hold agents accountable following the security failure that took place on July 13 that led to a gunman being able to take eight shots at 45th President Donald Trump, grazing the Republican candidate's right ear, killing one supporter, and seriously injuring two others.

The Missouri senator's questioning of Rowe focused on the lack of accountability the agency has taken thus far to punish those who were responsible for the security failures that led to the shooting. While Secret Service Directory Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week in disgrace, Republicans have been demanding that those directly responsible for the decisions on that day be fired.

"One American is dead, and other Americans were critically wounded. Isn't that enough mission failure for you to say that the person that decided that that building should not be in the security perimeter ought to step down?" Hawley said. In response, the director explained that he is trying to remain "neutral" as he tries to get to the bottom of who was responsible for the decisions made on that day.

"My question is, why don't you relieve everyone off duty who made bad judgment? So, yeah, you're right. I am zeroing in on somebody. I'm trying to find somebody who's accountable here," Hawley said. "So you're telling me that the person who made the decision not to include this in the perimeter has not been relieved of duty." The Republican lawmaker then demanded to know who would be held accountable for the breakdown in communication between local law enforcement and the Secret Service, which, according to Rowe, were not using radios to communicate. 

"What more do you need to investigate to know that there were critical enough failures that some individuals ought to be held accountable? What more do you need to know?" Hawley said.

"What I need to know is exactly what happened, and I need my investigators to do their job. I cannot put my thumb on the scale," the Secret Service director said. "You're asking me, senator, to completely make a rush to judgment about somebody failing? I acknowledge this is a failure of the Secret Service." Hawley then demanded that someone be held accountable, given that a former president was shot.

"Sir, this could have been our Texas School Book Depository," Rowe said, referencing the assassination of President Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald. "I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days, just like you have. I will tell you, senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted."

"Unfairly persecuted? We've got people who are dead!" Senator Hawley shouted. "You said earlier that you've got to make sure that your protocols are followed, and unless there's a protocol violation, then people wouldn't be disciplined. I would just say to you I don't really care that much about your protocols. I think that if your protocols don't provide for the fact that when a former president is shot, when an American is killed, when other rallygoers - innocent people who just showed up on the day - are shot at and critically wounded, if that's not a protocol violation prima facie, then you should revise your protocols."

WATCH:

🚨 TOTAL HUMILIATION 🚨

Josh Hawley BREAKS disgraced US Secret Service Director after forcing him to admit there has been NO punishment after Trump was shot in the head:

"The Former President was SHOT! FIRE SOMEBODY! I can't believe you would say you are being 'persecuted.'… pic.twitter.com/cjdGYvuY0h

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 30, 2024

You can follow Sterling on X/Twitter here.