The House of Representatives begins its formal investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump on Monday.
The bipartisan task force on the Trump shooting sent a pair of letters announcing that its investigation will now supersede several other ongoing House inquiries into the matter and requesting all information submitted to those committees on the July 13 shooting so far.
One letter was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe; the other was addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Lawmakers are seeking staff-level briefings from each agency and department, which would be scheduled by Aug. 16, a sign that the task force is serious about its promise of a short investigative timeline.
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The Trump assassination attempt task force, led by Reps. Mike Kelly and Jason Crow, has formally launched its investigation. (Getty Images)
“We, as Chair and Ranking Member of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump (Task Force), write to request documents and information relating to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024,” wrote Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo.
Multiple congressional investigations have been launched into how a 20-year-old gunman managed to position himself on a rooftop just outside the perimeter of Trump’s rally last month, open fire, and kill a rally-goer. Trump himself was shot in the ear and quickly removed from the stage by Secret Service agents.
The task force is a push by House leaders to consolidate those efforts. The panel is armed with subpoena power and broad jurisdiction to investigate the shooting, with the goal of producing a year-end report.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries led the task force assembly as a bipartisan effort. (Getty Images)
Kelly and Crow asked that the Biden administration officials to whom they wrote “should submit documents and information directly to the Working Group from this point forward, including any documents and information that are in process in response to pending requests.”
The lawmakers also requested “all documents and information that have been produced to date, from any House or Senate committee related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump” and “a staff briefing to review DHS and USSS responses to Congress to date, and to discuss the Task Force's priorities regarding documents and information going forward.”
The task force, made up of seven House Republicans and six Democrats, was formed after a unanimous 416-0 vote last month.
A senior House Republican told Fox News Digital last month that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was inundated with requests and pitches from House Republican lawmakers to serve on the panel.
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Trump was shot in the ear but was otherwise uninjured. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Both Kelly and Crow have stressed that the investigation must be apolitical.
Crow, a former Army Ranger, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he and Kelly were discussing a possible trip to the site of the Pennsylvania rally where the shooting occurred. Kelly, who was at the rally in Butler, represents the surrounding district.
“Chairman Kelly and I have discussed that and we think it would be an important thing if we have the support to do it,” Crow said.
