The task force investigating the assassination of Donald Trump leaves Butler, Pennsylvania, with more questions than answers after touring the site where the former president was shot last month.
Several members of the bipartisan group told DailyMail.com they were surprised by the close proximity of the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was standing near the stage at the rally where Trump was speaking on July 13.
They limped to the roof of the AGR building, where Crooks opened fire just a few hundred yards from the former president, shooting Trump in the right ear.
Lawmakers spent time walking around the protest site to “understand the physical space” and “where this security deficiency occurred,” as Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., explained.
“And I tell you, for many of us, this raises more questions than we had when we came here today, because we can see that it’s not a big place,” he said.
“We get a sense of the area and how close these buildings were to the stage where President Trump stood that day. So for all of us, having the opportunity to see, walk around and experience this was a really crucial step in our research process.”
Assassination task force chairman Mike Waltz told DailyMail.com he wishes his colleagues in Congress would “wait until we finally find out what really happened, rather than back off early.”
Ranking Member Jason Crowe (D-Colo.), who served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighted the numerous “lines of sight that appeared to not have been secured that day.”
“Certainly, at this point I have a lot more questions than answers,” he added.
Speaker Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) even revealed that it is too early to completely rule out “criminal negligence,” in a sign that those responsible for the near-death of the former president and the killing of retired firefighter Corey Comperatore, who attended the rally, could face criminal charges.
He is also urging his colleagues in Congress to step aside and let the panel complete its investigation before releasing more information about the attempted assassination of the former president by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The president is concerned that in an effort to produce answers quickly, they may slip up and release inaccurate information to the public.
Some in Congress are furious that they were not selected for the 13-member panel and are working on their own to try to get answers.
Five Republicans who believe they should be on the task force, including former sniper Cory Mills and Republican activist Matt Gaetz, both representing Florida, appeared at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation on Monday, just hours before the bipartisan group’s second visit to the Butler rally site.
President Kelly told DailyMail.com: “I would love for them to wait until we finally find out what really happened, rather than come out early.”
Kelly was present at the rally where the now-deceased 20-year-old shot the former president in the ear. Kelly is now leading efforts to get to the bottom of the security failures that led to the attack.
The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump was created after a unanimous vote in Congress to form a special group to investigate the events of that day.
The bipartisan panel members were chosen by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and is led by Chairman Kelly and Ranking Member Crowe.
The members are Republican Reps. Mark Green (Tennessee), David Joyce (Ohio), Laurel Lee (Fla.), Mike Waltz (Fla.), Clay Higgins (Lo.) and Pat Fallon (Texas). The Democrats are Reps. J. Luis Correa (California), Madeleine Dean (Pennsylvania), Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Glenn Ivey (Md.) and Jared Moskowitz (Fla.).
Lawmakers on the panel toured the scene of the attempted murder in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday as they try to get to the bottom of the security failures that led to the shooting.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, pictured at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 before opening fire on the crowd and the former president and being shot dead by Secret Service.
Meanwhile, a group of five Republicans were at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC, holding a hearing-style format where they wanted to present their own findings related to the assassination.
The lawmakers hosting the event are Republican Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Cory Mills (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas).
One of the congressmen’s guests was former regional SWAT officer Ben Shaffer, a sniper who was on the job during the Butler rally.
It confirmed earlier revelations that local law enforcement offered encrypted radios to the Secret Service, which the agency refused to take.
Five members of Congress angry at not being selected for the task force held a hearing-style event Monday at the Heritage Foundation seeking to find answers about the assassination attempt.
Trump was shot in the side of the ear. One rally-goer was killed and two others were seriously injured. Several Secret Service agents have been suspended during the investigation into the assassination attempt, reports reveal.
Shaffer also claims that knowledge that Crooks was using a rangefinder would have elevated him from a “person of interest” to someone “who would have warranted some type of investigative stop” by officers.
Rep. Mills, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, said at Monday’s event in Butler that this “won’t be the last” of its kind.
“This is a message to the entire Congress: If we do not select people based on meritocracy, independent investigations will continue to move forward,” he added.
Asked if his colleagues were undermining the task force’s efforts, Kelly told DailyMail.com in Butler on Monday: “As members of Congress, they can do that, but we were the only task force created by the president and the minority leader.”
“I would love for them to wait until we finally know what really happened, rather than leaving early,” she continued. “Leaving early is fine, as long as you know when you go on stage that what you’re saying is what really happened.”
“We have talented people in Congress right now and they love to get involved in these things. That’s fine, that’s fine,” the president said, slightly exasperated. “But there is a task force. It’s been appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader.”
“I wish we could get some time to start. We’re not starting today, this started at the beginning of August.”
