Mayorkas names bipartisan panel to lead independent review of Trump assassination attempt

By Priscilla Alvarez, Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, under pressure from the White House and Congress, unveiled Sunday the experts who will be conducting an independent review of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, tapping former senior Homeland Security officials who served under multiple administrations, as well as law enforcement officials.

Some of those chosen to serve on the independent panel include Janet Napolitano, a former DHS Secretary, and Mark Filip, a former federal judge and deputy attorney general to President George W. Bush.

The Department of Homeland Security and the White House have been closely managing how the Secret Service is handling the fallout from the attempt on Trump’s life. The independent review is an effort by officials to get ahead of congressional reviews and hearings happening on Capitol Hill, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Over recent days, the Department of Homeland Security had been reaching out to individuals, including some former government officials, to gauge interest and select who will be on the panel.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who has faced sharp criticism in the week since the shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, said the agency is “eager to cooperate” with the bipartisan, independent review of the agency’s actions related to the incident.

“I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again,” Cheatle said in a statement Sunday evening.

In the days since the attack on the former president and Republican presidential nominee, relatively little has come out about the shooter’s motive, how he was able to perch on a nearby rooftop with an AR-style weapon and why Trump’s team wasn’t warned about a potential threat. Republican lawmakers in particular have been upset with the lack of answers, with some calling for Cheatle’s resignation.

The review stems from a request by President Joe Biden to conduct an independent review of the assassination attempt. Mayorkas told reporters last week that he wanted the review up and running in a matter of days.

“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened on July 13, and I am grateful to the distinguished members of this independent review who will bring decades of expertise in law enforcement and security operations to this important investigation,” Mayorkas said in a statement Sunday.

“This independent review will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to ensure they carry out their no-fail mission most effectively and to prevent something like this from ever happening again,” he added.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Whitney Wild, Gloria Pazmino and Michelle Watson contributed to this report.

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