Lawmakers Launch Trump Shooting Probes, Pledge Bipartisanship

A group of lawmakers probing the attempted assassination of Donald Trump pledged bipartisanship and tough questions after visiting the site of the shooting that injured the former president and killed one bystander.

Task force members visited local officials in Butler, Pa., on Monday to study the location of the July 13 shooting at a campaign rally for Trump, the GOP nominee for president. The visit is the first major action for the bipartisan group, which the House established last month to examine security lapses that led to the assassination attempt. The lawmakers have also sought records from federal agencies.

“There’s not one person on this conference that’s identifying just as a Republican or a Democrat, we’re identifying as members of Congress on a task force with a task to restore the faith, trust and confidence the American people have to have in our system,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who’s leading a dozen colleagues on the task force, said in a press conference.

Kelly and Rep. Jason Crow (Colo.), the top Democrat on the panel, patted each other on the shoulders while recounting their shared experience on a recent congressional trip to Normandy, France, to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day.

The task force, which has subpoena power, is investigating the actions of the Secret Service, as well as other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies responsible for securing the July event. The lawmakers will report findings by Dec. 13, under a resolution the House passed unanimously last month.

Members of the group stressed Monday that they are centralizing the House’s investigative work within their task force, taking control of probes several committees initiated immediately after the shooting.

House Approves Bipartisan Review of Trump Assassination Attempt

Still, some fractures are beginning to show among House colleagues. Earlier Monday, five hardline conservative lawmakers held a forum to highlight their own investigation of the July 13 security lapses. Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), one of the leaders of the effort, acknowledged that his group lacks some of the tools the task force has, including subpoena power, but said it has the advantage of flexibility and speed.

“Waiting until December is not where we need to be. Time goes on, this gets memory-holed,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another member of the informal group, said in an interview. He and Crane both said they don’t view their effort as competitive with the work of the task force.

Separate investigations are continuing in the Senate and the executive branch.

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