Members of the bipartisan task force on the Trump assassination are heading to Butler, Pennsylvania, to demand answers after the Secret Service continues to “slow down” information.
House Speaker Mike Johnson previewed the trip on Fox & Friends Monday morning, saying he is “confident” in the task force leader, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who is “doing a great job.”
“They’ve been working hard to get answers and request documents. They’ve been slow to act, which is why we’re concerned. That’s why we’re pushing for answers for the American people,” the speaker said.
DailyMail.com has learned that Kelly and task force ranking member Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, plan to meet with local law enforcement to gain “first-hand knowledge” relevant to their broader investigation.
His trip to Butler comes days after several Secret Service agents were placed on leave amid the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
The massive security failure that led to the horrific incident has sparked investigations by a wide range of government agencies that are ongoing after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president on July 13.
Several Secret Service agents have been placed on leave during the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, reports suggest
According to NBC News, four Pittsburgh field agents, including the division chief, and a Trump aide have been placed on leave.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told DailyMail.com in a statement Friday that “there must be accountability” for the Secret Service’s “historic failures.”
“The first step is to hold negligent employees accountable. I look forward to the findings of the task force’s investigation. We must ensure that the Secret Service does not fail again.”
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi had no comment on reports that the agents were placed on leave because it was a “personnel matter.”
But he told DailyMail.com that they are still “examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure.”
‘The United States Secret Service holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policies will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for possible disciplinary action.’
The suspended agents are expected to continue working for the Secret Service and receiving their salaries. They have most likely been moved to an administrative position while the investigation continues.
Crooks’ plot prompted the resignation of the agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, and raised a host of questions, including how he was able to climb onto a roof with a clear view of where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The suspected killer was seen by witnesses before the shooting and the Secret Service and law enforcement were alerted to his presence.
Still, he was able to open fire at least eight times with the AR-style rifle he received from his father.
Republican Rep. Mike Waltz told DailyMail.com earlier this week that he was not convinced Crooks acted alone.
He said the gunman’s motivation is still unknown and he is concerned that a foreign entity or other third party may have been involved in the attack.
Waltz asked how federal authorities can say with certainty that Crooks was a lone wolf if they can’t answer other questions, such as why he had multiple foreign encrypted messaging accounts.
His comments came after it was revealed that Iran was also planning an assassination attempt on the former president around the same time Crooks carried out his plot.
“The deeper we get into it, the more questions I have,” Waltz said. “It’s what’s really emerging around it that’s so disturbing.”
“And to me, the most disturbing thing is that we have ongoing plots from Iran to eliminate a former president, a leading candidate, and a Pakistani citizen has just been arrested after making an initial payment to hitmen, and it’s barely being covered in the news.”
Crooks, 20, was able to create multiple explosives with remote detonators, another thing that surprised Waltz and made him wonder if he received help.
Thomas Matthew Crooks is pictured at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 before opening fire on the crowd and the former president.
Crooks, 20, was shot and killed on the spot by the US Secret Service after he killed one rally-goer, seriously injured two other supporters and barely grazed the side of Trump’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
As the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the Department of Homeland Security conduct their investigations into the massive security breach, Waltz and 12 other lawmakers on a House task force are also investigating the assassination attempt.
“I don’t understand it and I still don’t have any answers that would help me understand how the (Secret) Service and DHS came out so quickly and said – and I think the FBI did too, but I’ll have to check – that he was operating alone,” Waltz said while speaking to DailyMail.com at Trump Tower in Chicago on Wednesday. “How do you know that just days into your investigation?”
The Florida congressman added: “They can’t tell us what his motive was, but can they tell us he acted alone? They can’t access these encrypted accounts overseas, but can they tell us he acted alone? So I don’t believe it yet.”
A bullet fired from his AR-style weapon, legally purchased by Crooks’ father, grazed the former president’s right ear.
The robbers killed one protester and seriously injured two others before being removed from the scene.
The FBI also found explosives in Crooks’ car, which was parked near the protest site. And when they raided his parents’ home, where he lived, they found more bombs.
“I don’t know many 19-year-olds who can make multiple IEDs with a remote detonator on their own,” Waltz told DailyMail.com. “Why hasn’t it been detected if he’s looking on the internet or buying literature on how to do it?”