(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force created to investigate the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump released its final report Tuesday, rehashing what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania and making a slate of recommendations for how the Secret Service should conduct itself moving forward.
It appears there’s little new information in the final report. Much of the report’s contents have already been disclosed through Senate and DHS-led investigations, as well as independent journalism—including from this outlet, which exclusively obtained alleged shooter Thomas Crooks’s autopsy and toxicology reports.
The lack of new info in the final report is at least partially attributable to the Justice Department’s stonewalling. According to the report, the FBI declined to provide any documents about the second, Sept. 15 assassination attempt that occurred at Trump’s Florida golf course—despite the fact that the Task Force’s legal authority was expanded to investigate that case, too.
“The Secret Service is continuing to conduct its mission assurance review of the assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Florida, the contents of which have not been shared with the Task Force,” the report said.
The FBI only provided the Task Force with/ about 8% of the 302s it generated from interviewing over 1000 witnesses
They basically treated the Task Force the same way they do Jesse Trentadue, except Jesse actually fights back and drags them over the coals for this sheeit https://t.co/aR4XeqToi7 pic.twitter.com/zE6FWC2D4w
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 10, 2024
“The FBI provided no documents in response to the Task Force’s request and provided only a single status briefing on September 25,” the report added.
The FBI also didn’t provide the Task Force with much information about Crooks’s himself.
The report said the FBI provided the Task Force with access to only 81, out of over 1,000, witness interview reports—known as 302s—comprising roughly 180 pages.
Task Force Chair Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Co., both said they never learned what motivated Crooks to shoot Trump.
In a Sunday interview with Meet the Press, Crow blasted the DOJ’s lack of transparency. He said Congress should have the right to review evidence from a criminal investigation in a private setting where the information can’t be leaked. He said he regularly receives briefs on military and intelligence operations under the same conditions.
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.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
