WASHINGTON (TNS) — The House task force investigating the July 13 attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pa., is now officially charged with digging into an apparent thwarted assassination attempt at one of the Republican presidential nominee’s golf courses in Florida on Sunday.
Announced Tuesday night by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the expanded scope of the bipartisan panel’s inquiry comes after the group already asked the Secret Service for a briefing on the incident — in which Trump was never fired at, but a gunman allegedly staked out the golf course for 12 hours. Secret Service fired at Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, after an agent spotted his rifle through shrubbery lining the course. He now faces federal gun charges.
On Tuesday, the task force, led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, asked the FBI and Department of Justice for any information on any possible links between the two assassination attempts. The FBI in the Butler case has not found any evidence of a motive or co-conspirators for 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who opened fire during a Trump rally, wounding the president and two others and killing former firefighter Corey Comperatore.
Johnson on Tuesday also said he “demanded of the White House” via telephone and in writing that it provide Trump “every available asset to ensure his protection.”
President Joe Biden on Monday called on Congress to provide more resources to the Secret Service, joining many in both parties who have said the agency needs more resources and manpower. But Mr. Johnson said the “buck stops at the president’s desk,” and argued Trump should receive the same level of protection as Mr. Biden.
“He is under constant threat,” he said. “He’s in the midst of a heated campaign, and this is an obvious thing that has now been proven that we need to do. In the meantime, Congress is going to do everything that we can to ensure that that happens.”
The task force, which has requested a trove of records, evidence and interviews with federal, state and local agencies, is set to report on its findings in December.
