(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Monday’s press conference with the House Task Force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt revealed little, if any, information about what happened at the July 13 campaign rally in Butler Pennsylvania.
Instead, ranking task force member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Co., who helped spearhead the impeachment attempts against Trump, refused to say who lawmakers are planning to interview. Crow’s refusal came in response to a reporter’s question about whether he’ll be talking to the classmates or parents of alleged shooter Thomas Crooks.
“We’re not going to comment right now specifically who we’re going to talk to. We’ll talk about the entities—we’ve been in touch with the Secret Service, FBI and local law enforcement—but we’re not going to say yet specific individuals,” Crow said.
Your Trump Shooting Task Force, ladies and gentlemen: Ranking member Jason Crow, who was involved in impeachment attempts on Trump, refuses to say who will be interviewed for the House's investigation.
Then, Rep. Jared Moskowitz downplays the notion that others were involved. pic.twitter.com/ATY4mleZu7— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 27, 2024
Democrats also downplayed the notion that others were involved in the attack, despite Crooks having at least three encrypted messaging apps, a Discord account and other online accounts.
“I think it’s too early to make that determination. At this moment, I don’t think the task force has seen any hard evidence that that would be the case,” Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said about others being involved.
Republicans on the task force were also lukewarm at Monday’s press conference. When asked about the government stonewalling Congress, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., came to the defense of the federal agencies.
“We have heard from a number of federal agencies, the Secret Service, we’ve been in contact with the FBI, we’ve had a briefing with the FBI,” Lee said.
However, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., who’s conducting his own investigation, said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that he’s yet to receive a single interview report from the FBI’s investigation.
The FBI hasn't provided a single interview report from its Trump shooting investigation to Congress https://t.co/PJ3k3eUxB7
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) August 27, 2024
The House task force, formed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and ranking member Hakeem Jeffries, will “supersede” other House investigations into the July 13 shooting. The results of the task force investigation aren’t due until December 13, after the upcoming election.
While Monday’s press conference featured a mixture of Democrats and RINOs, Reps. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and Clay Higgins, R-La., have signalled intent to pursue a deeper investigation.
Waltz has said that he believes others were involved, while Higgins has already put out a bombshell report on his preliminary findings—revealing, among other facts, that Crooks’s body was released for cremation before Congress had the chance to examine it.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
