(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force investigating the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump will hold its first public hearing 9:30 a.m. Thursday on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, the Task Force has also expanded its authority to investigate the more recent attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course.
The Task Force has yet to announce who will be testifying at the hearing, but it looks to be focused on the federal security failures at the deadly July 13 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The hearing’s title is, The Ongoing Investigation of the Butler, Pennsylvania Security Failure: The Secret Service’s Reliance on State and Local Law Enforcement.
The Trump Shooting Task Force is holding its 1st hearing next week, which will be open to "credentialed" media.
See below for the kinds of questions the credentialed media are asking https://t.co/sazYTvig5E pic.twitter.com/RjgeZjtngk
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 20, 2024
Thursday’s hearing will come six days after the Secret Service released a summary of the findings of its Butler rally internal review. Most of Secret Service’s internal findings have already been documented through congressional testimony, news media investigations and other public statements.
However, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe did confirm last Friday that his agency’s snipers at Butler knew someone was on the rooftop by 6:10 p.m.—more than 90 seconds before the shooter, Thomas Crooks, opened fire.
My biggest takeaway from today's presser was that the Secret Service snipers *definitely* knew someone was on the AGR rooftop by 6:10 p.m. — about 90 seconds before the shooting began
We knew that the Secret Service command center was told Crooks was on the rooftop — but I… https://t.co/xgcqjQxq3m pic.twitter.com/CGpDJJlqep
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 20, 2024
Reacting to last Friday’s report, Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Penn., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Colo., released the following statement: “We encourage Acting Director Ronald Rowe to follow through on his commitment to hold employees of the Secret Service accountable for the failures of July 13. We also expect him to continue cooperating with the Task Force’s ongoing independent investigation.”
Also on Friday, the U.S. House passed legislation by unanimous consent expanding the jurisdiction of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump to include the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sept. 15 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
House today passed legislation by unanimous consent expanding the jurisdiction of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump to include the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. pic.twitter.com/qEfUocT1jg
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) September 20, 2024
“We have requested a briefing with the U.S. Secret Service about what happened and how security responded,” the Task Force said on the day of the second assassination attempt.
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms. The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
