The House on Monday announced the 13 lawmakers who will make up the bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The task force, which the House approved Wednesday with a 416-0 vote on a resolution sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., will have subpoena power, and its goal will be to understand the security failures that led to the shooting, to seek accountability, and to prevent another such an attempt. It has a Dec. 13 deadline to report its findings.
"We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement, according to CBS News.
Kelly, whose district includes Butler County, where the assassination attempt occurred, will chair the task force. He will be joined by Republicans Mark Green of Tennessee, chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, David Joyce of Ohio; Laurel Lee and Michael Waltz of Florida, Clay Higgins of Louisiana and Pat Fallon of Texas.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., will be the task force's ranking member. He will be joined by Democrats Lou Correa of California, Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Glenn Ivey of Maryland, and Jared Moskowitz of Florida.
The task force will now "assume control and jurisdiction over all pending House committee investigations regarding the Trump assassination attempt" until the end of the current Congress in January, the statement said, according to CBS News.
Trump was shot in the right ear by Thomas Matthews Crooks, 20, who killed a crowd member and seriously injured two others before he was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The security breakdowns that allowed Crooks to set up a position on a rooftop about 130 yards from where Trump was speaking led to the resignation last week of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. The FBI has been investigating Crooks' motive, but FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told reporters Monday that the motive is "still not clear," according to CBS News.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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