Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of "stonewalling" congressional lawmakers as they investigate the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
"I am reaching the point of total outrage because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking," Blumenthal told reporters Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
"In fact, I think it's tantamount to stonewalling in many respects," he added.
Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said that DHS has been "almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information" that are needed to investigate the shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Republican presidential nominee was grazed by a bullet in the right ear during the attack, while former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed shielding his family from the gunfire. Two other spectators were seriously injured.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was killed by a Secret Service sniper moments after he opened fire.
"The Department of Homeland Security has to be more forthcoming, not only to me, but to the American people, and it has to do it quickly or it will fuel the conspiracy theories that are so dangerous to our democracy, as well as undermining its own credibility," Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal also indicated he is so fed up with DHS that he would be in favor of issuing a subpoena to the agency.
"I know how to do subpoenas," he said. "I'm ready, willing and able to use the subpoena process if necessary to get information from the Department of Homeland Security."
On Tuesday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the ranking member on the committee investigating the attempt on Trump's life, told reporters that DHS' refusal to cooperate is "driving suspicion and driving conspiracy theories," the Post reported.
"They're holding all their cards close to the vest," Johnson said.
Exiting a meeting last week with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Blumenthal said, according to the Post, that Americans "ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank as it should be to them in terms of providing information."