(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force created to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump has finished its work—but its members still don’t know what motivated alleged gunman Thomas Crooks.
In a Sunday interview with Meet the Press, Task Force Chair Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Co., said the Justice Department and FBI provided very little information on Crooks, despite their repeated requests. The Task Force was granted subpoena powers, but the Task Force didn’t exercise them with the DOJ or FBI. Kelly and Crow didn’t explain why, opting to complain instead.
“Why did he do this? Was he just a disturbed young man who decided to take action alone? That’s probably the answer, but we need to know,” Crow said.
“There’s so many missing pieces on this one … How could there be so many missing pieces?” Kelly added.
Trump Shooting Task Force leaders Mike Kelly and Jason Crow admit they never learned what motivated gunman Thomas Crooks, complain about the DOJ/FBI stonewalling them, and promise to continue investigating next Congress.
“If DOJ and FBI think they can wait us out and stonewall… pic.twitter.com/R2aT6g1W5i— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 9, 2024
Crow did say the DOJ’s reason for not providing information on Crooks was because there’s an ongoing criminal investigation. That could mean that Crooks’s parents are under investigation—he did make bombs in their home. However, the FBI conducted a criminal investigation into Jan. 6 protestor Ashli Babbitt even after she was dead, so the ongoing criminal investigation could be related to Crooks himself.
Kelly and Crow promised to continue pressing the DOJ on the matter.
“If DOJ and FBI think they can wait us out and stonewall us, they are wrong,” Crow said. He also said an ongoing criminal investigation is no excuse for withholding information from Congress, which regularly reviews classified information about military operations and other highly sensitive matters on a regular basis.
Along with complaining about DOJ stonewalling, Crow did reveal some previously unknown—at least unknown to this reporter—info on the Secret Service’s drone use, or lack thereof. According to Crow, the Secret Service did, in fact, have a commercial drone at Butler on July 13. But its operator had tech problems and couldn’t launch it, Crow said.
“They literally bought a drone off the market [and] showed up with this drone in the box. It didn’t work, they didn’t know how to make it work, and so they just put it aside and went without a drone,” Crow said.
Additionally, the reporter conducting the interview referenced the Task Force’s impending final report during her interview, even though it hasn’t been public yet—meaning the Task Force apparently leaked its final report to liberal media before making it public for everyone else.
The Task Force hasn't released its final report yet, but they leaked an advanced copy to the liberal CBS reporter @margbrennan, who references it here during her interview with Task Force chair @MikeKellyPA and ranking member @JasonCrowCO
Just in case anyone needed more proof… https://t.co/a8LWxmycbY pic.twitter.com/rspGQWpPZu
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 9, 2024
The Task Force must release its final report by Friday, and then the committee will be dissolved.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
