(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force investigating the Trump assassination attempt wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, seeking to interview Secret Service agents involved in the deadly July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In a letter to Mayorkas, Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Co., asked to start interviewing officials such as Secret Service Pittsburgh boss Timothy Burke, the local field office site agent for the July 13 rally, and the lead advance agent.
However, the Secret Service snipers from July 13 are not included on the list of agents that Kelly and Crow want to interview. Their letter asks to interview the agent “responsible” for “counter sniper capabilities.” However, the letter indicates that would be the official who oversaw the policies, procedures and plans for the snipers to attend the rally—and not the snipers themselves.
The House Task Force on the Trump shooting has requested to interview Secret Service agents involved in the event.
But unless I'm missing something, they have NOT asked to interview the snipers. The letter asks to interview the agent "responsible" for "counter sniper… pic.twitter.com/Szbr0BhXgQ— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 29, 2024
Headline USA wrote to the Task Force seeking an explanation for the apparent omission, but did not receive one before the publication of this article.
The Secret Service agent responsible for counter sniper capabilities would presumably be able to tell the Task Force about how and why the July 13 event was the first time snipers were deployed to a 2024 Trump rally—and likely the first time they’ve ever guarded a former president’s event.
However, that agent may not be able to explain the snipers’ actions from July 13—including why they waited minutes before shooting at alleged would-be assassin Thomas Crooks.
Indeed, as Headline USA has thoroughly documented, the Secret Service’s command center was notified by at least 6:09 p.m. that Crooks was on the rooftop. Crooks began firing two minutes after that at 6:11 p.m.
Moreover, snipers were seen watching Crooks at least 20 seconds before he began firing.
Trump shooting witness contradicts SS director's claim that agents didn't see Crooks before the shooting started: "The SS snipers changed their focus from us to the rooftop … Maybe 20 seconds after that is when the first shots rang out." pic.twitter.com/2647azJdjR
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 5, 2024
Just as inexplicable is that the Secret Service’s snipers didn’t return fire for 15 seconds after Crooks started shooting—and an entire 10 seconds after Crooks had already stopped shooting due to the heroic actions of a local cop, who struck Crooks’s rifle with return fire after he got off eight shots.
House lawmakers have yet to ask why the Secret Service why it waited so long to return fire.
Along with the Task Force’s interview requests, Kelly and Crow also requested a slew of documents, including: All transcripts from interviews conducted by DHS and Secret Service related to the July 13 event, documents referring or related to the Secret Service’s intelligence advance process, documents related to the site selection process, and all communications referring to or between the feds, state and local law enforcement.
The lawmakers set a deadline of this Wednesday for the DHS and Secret Service to fork over the records.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
