FBI, DHS Have Yet To Provide Docs On 2nd Trump Assassination Attempt

The House task force investigating the multiple attempts to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump released its final report on Tuesday, finding that the attack on Trump during a campaign rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, was entirely preventable.

The task force said that the July 13 assassination attempt by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was enabled by a number of errors leading up to the rally and the day of the attack. These mistakes included failing to secure the rally site, technological issues, and a “fragmented” communication structure. 

“The Task Force found that the tragic and shocking events in Butler, Pennsylvania were preventable and should not have happened,” the 180-page report said. “The various failures in planning, execution, and leadership on and before July 13, 2024, and the preexisting conditions that undermined the effectiveness of the human and material assets deployed that day, coalesced to create an environment in which the former President—and everyone at the campaign event—were exposed to grave danger.”

These failures led to Trump being shot in the ear, two rally attendees being shot, and 50-year-old Corey Comperatore being killed. Many of the findings of the final report mirror the interim report the task force released in October.

The bipartisan panel was first formed on July 25 to investigate the Butler attack but was later given authority to expand its investigation to include the second attempt on Trump’s life in Florida on September 15. In that incident, a man hid in the bushes with a gun outside the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach. 

After noticing the man in the bushes, a Secret Service agent opened fire and the man fled. Ryan Routh, the man accused in that attack, was arrested and is currently awaiting trial. 

“Conversely, the events that transpired on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination,” the report said, comparing the two situations. 

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Led by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), the committee visited West Palm Beach on November 16 as part of its probe. The lawmakers added that multiple federal agencies had yet to provide them with information on a second assassination attempt.

“The Task Force notes that as of the date of publication of this report, DHS, USSS, FBI, and ATF have not produced any documents responsive to the Task Force’s requests regarding the preparation for, events of, and response to the second assassination attempt that occurred on September 15,” the lawmakers wrote. 

Other reports from the Senate and an independent panel created by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have found the Secret Service at fault for the Butler rally.