Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., told Newsmax his concerns about the possibility that the shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump may have had assistance.
Waltz, a member of House Speaker Mike Johnson's joint task force investigating the assassination attempt on Trump, voiced his concerns on "Prime News" on Tuesday. Waltz emphasized the need for accountability and the importance of thorough investigations.
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"I don't think we can rule that out, that he had help," Waltz said, detailing shooter Thomas Michael Crooks' sophisticated tactics, including drone surveillance, multiple bombs, a remote detonator, and a headshot attempt that narrowly missed due to Trump turning his head.
It is unbelievable that the shooter "was able to recon the site and outfox local cops and the Secret Service," he said.
"I'm with Josh Hawley [R-Mo.], Ted Cruz [R-Texas] and everybody calling for accountability," Waltz stated, praising the removal of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for failing to address key questions about Trump's attempted assassination during her recent testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
Waltz further connected the incident to broader security threats.
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"Coupled with ongoing Iranian plotting and an FBI alert that one of their recruiters had made it across our border and was recruiting assassins, coupled with overseas accounts we can't get through the encryption, absolutely, we don't rule out that he had help, not at all," he said.
Waltz recounted his early efforts to highlight security deficiencies following the assassination attempt.
"The day after the assassination attempt, I was the first to put out there that agents were reaching out to me and saying they had been repeatedly denied additional resources."
Waltz highlighted a significant discrepancy in resource allocation.
"We found out that 12 additional agents were sent to Dr. Jill [Biden's] event, but only three were sent to President Trump."
When questioned, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Secret Service initially labeled these claims as "irresponsible and false," only to later "walk that back and say, 'Oh, wait, we did find where Trump was denied additional resources,' but we still can't get answers on exactly what those were," Waltz said.
"I think the American people have lost trust in a basic, fair investigation from the very agencies that were, at a minimum, trying to put Trump in jail just a few months ago," he added.
"So, I commend Speaker Johnson for setting up this task force. We can't take 'no' for an answer. I look forward to sitting down with the FBI, DHS, and Secret Service to see exactly what their investigators are seeing," he said.
He believes the burden of proof proving Crooks acted alone lies with the FBI, DHS, and Secret Service: "They're going to have to prove to me that he [Crooks] didn't have help, given how he pulled this off."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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