Four Republicans Were Asked to Investigate the Trump Shooting Site. They Didn't Even Bother Showing Up

On July 29, a task group made up of six Democratic and seven Republican parliamentarians was established to supervise the inquiry being conducted by the authorities investigating the assassination of former president Donald Trump. According to The Washington Post, nine House of Representatives task team members, chaired by Representative Mike Kelly, visited the Butler Farm Show grounds and met with law enforcement authorities on Monday. However, four out of the seven Republican panelists—Reps. Mark Green (Tenn.), Pat Fallon (Texas), Clay Higgins (La. ), and Michael Waltz (Fla.)—did not attend the tour. During the press conference, there was no explanation for their absence.

“When you’re actually walking these grounds, when you’re going to the building, and when you’re up on the roof…if you can look at that, right now, in person it’s like, okay, I got it, I know where that was,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), stated, who also happens to be the representative for the Butler area. Rep. Jason Crow (Democrat), a veteran of the Army Special Forces from Colorado, was also one of the ranking members to lead the team on the ground.

GOP Reps. David Joyce (Ohio) and Laurel Lee (Fla.) attended the tour, as did Democratic Reps. Crow, Lou Correa (Calif.), Madeleine Dean (Pa.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Glenn Ivey (Md.) and Jared Moskowitz (Fla.). The panel's work, according to lawmakers of both parties, would go beyond party lines to determine what occurred and provide the public with a reliable narrative.

“We’re in the midst of an election cycle right now, and all of us are going to have those tough debates,” Crow said. “But in the United States of America, you do not get to attempt to assassinate our elected officials and our candidates. It’s unacceptable. And we are standing here in a bipartisan way to send the message that we won’t tolerate it.”

“It is so important that this task force has the opportunity to do what we did here, to actually walk these grounds, to see this area, to get an understanding of the physical space and where this security shortcoming took place,” Lee said. “And I will tell you, for many of us, it raises more questions than we came here with today.”

The House of Representatives panelists declined to respond to inquiries regarding any preliminary conclusions they may have. Moskowitz said it was “too early to make that determination" that the gunman carried out the assassination attempt alone. “I don’t think anyone on the task force has seen any hard evidence that would suggest that would be the case,” the lawmaker said. 

The FBI, the DHS Office of the Inspector General, the House congressional task force, and the Department of Homeland Security's independent review panel are all collaborating with the U.S. Secret Service, according to spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. “Our desire to learn from this failure and ensure it never happens again is unwavering, and we welcome any efforts towards that end,” he said in a statement, Fox 59 reported.