Image source, Getty Images

Earlier in July, we spoke to former Secret Service agent Jason Russell about what may have gone wrong during the rally in Butler.

Part of the problem, Russell said, is that the US Secret Service is stretched thin, particularly during a campaign season and on the back of the Nato Summit in Washington, where many resources would have been deployed.

“Resources get spread pretty thin during campaign years, because you have so many visits, and each one of those visits needs its own security plan, its own set of resources to be able to secure it properly,” he said.

In the case of the Butler rally, Russell said he believed that the building the suspect was on was “obviously” identified as a threat, but that the USSS was “relying heavily on their local police counterparts to assist them and provide security at some of these more distance perimeter locations”.

“For whatever reason, that didn’t happen,” he said, adding that there could have also been delays in information being shared among all the entities involved in the security operation.

Russell added that the USSS counter-snipers deployed at the rally area may not have been able to see the suspect from their vantage point until he started shooting. Once they did, he was quickly shot.

“But unfortunately, in that short period of time, he was able to fire off enough shots to tragically take a life, injure a couple people and potentially take the life of the former president,” Russell said.

Here’s a reminder of the events that unfolded at Donald Trump's rally, in under one minute

Image source, Reuters

The previous director of the United States Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned last week amid increasing anger from lawmakers over security failures surrounding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Cheatle’s resignation followed a gruelling and contentious six-hour hearing before the House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee, in which she repeatedly refused to answer questions from lawmakers about what took place at the 13 July rally.

"As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse," Cheatle said in a resignation letter to agency staff.

In the letter, Cheatle said she had always "put the needs of the agency first" and it was “with a heavy heart” that she made her decision to quit.

“The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she said.

“I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.”

Read more about Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation here.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

We've got a little less than 30 minutes to go until the Senate hearing begins.

For the last hour and a half, I've been in line at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, standing alongside dozens of people waiting for the hearing to begin.

Most are young Hill staffers in their early 20s, here for summer programmes or internships with lawmakers. There is also a handful of journalists.

Some, however, are merely curious citizens, interested in what took place in Butler and the aftermath.

The man next to me, for example, is an accountant from Baltimore.

"This is history," he said. "It's interesting to watch."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

While the two men at the focus of today’s Senate hearing are not household names, both have long careers in law enforcement and are well-known with the US security network.

Ronald Rowe, who became acting Secret Service director on 23 July - after Kimberly Cheatle resigned - has several decades worth of experience in the agency, beginning in 1999.

Between 2004 and 2008, Rowe was assigned to the presidential protective detail during the George W Bush administration, and was later selected for a joint duty assignment to the National Intelligence Council in 2013.

More recently, he has served as chief of state of the director and assistant director for the Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs, an important position in which he oversaw the agency’s engagement with Congress and the Department of Homeland Security.

Paul Abbate, the deputy director of the FBI, has served in his post since February 2021. As deputy director, he oversees all FBI investigative and intelligence activities, both in the US and abroad.

After having initially joined the bureau’s New York City office in 1996, Abbate served in a number of counter-terrorism-focused posts, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

He went on to head the bureau’s Detroit Division and serve as executive assistant director for the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, which oversees investigations and response to cybercrimes.

In 2018, Abbate became associate deputy director of the FBI and was responsible for its personnel, budget and administration.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in the city of Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July when a gunman opened fire.

Here's a breakdown of how it all unfolded. All times are local:

17:00: Trump was scheduled to start addressing the crowd

18:03: He takes the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”

18:11: A few minutes into his campaign speech, loud shots ring out

18:12: Secret Service agents swarm the former president before he is rushed off stage with blood near his ear and on the side of his face

18:14: Trump's motorcade leaves the rally

18:42: Secret Service issues a statement, confirming that Trump is safe and there is an active investigation into the incident

19:03: Trump’s campaign says he's “fine”

19:45: Law enforcement confirms that the suspect is dead, along with an audience member

20:13: Biden condemns the attack and says during a briefing that he is trying to speak with Trump over the phone as soon as possible

20:42: Trump shares his first account of what happened, saying a bullet pierced his upper part of his right ear

21:33: The FBI Pittsburgh says it is the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation

Ahead of the hearing, the BBC's US partner CBS has obtained excerpts of acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe's testimony to the Senate.

According to the testimony, Rowe will tell lawmakers of his visit to the Butler, Pennsylvania site: "What I saw made me ashamed."

"I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured," Rowe is expected to say of the building where a gunman was able to shoot out at the rally crowd while Donald Trump was speaking.

"To prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future, I directed our personnel to ensure every event site security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented," Rowe is expected to add.

Stick with us as we bring you Rowe's live testimony later on.

Caitlin Wilson
Live page editor

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the testimony from acting director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate to a Senate hearing.

The two officials are appearing before lawmakers as part of the ongoing investigation into the shooting at a Trump rally earlier this month.

The aftermath of the incident - which left one person dead and three people injured, including Donald Trump - has already seen Secret Service head Kimberly Cheatle resign.

Questions remain about what exactly went wrong and whether local or federal law enforcement should have acted differently in the lead-up to the shooting.

Our reporter Bernd Debusmann Jr is in Congress, so stick with us as we bring you all the latest updates and analysis.