CNN —
The House Select Committee investigating the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Monday released new testimony from local law enforcement officials who gave first-hand accounts of poor communication and security failures at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. An interim report including excerpts was published. .
Based on 23 interviews with local law enforcement officials and thousands of pages of documents from various authorities, the bipartisan task force concluded that “the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable.” It could and should not have happened.”
The report could put further pressure on the leadership of the U.S. Secret Intelligence Service after an independent panel of the Department of Homeland Security called for a complete leadership review.
Testimony from anonymous Butler officials in the report describes the chaotic sequence from when local authorities first discovered gunman Thomas Crooks at a Trump rally to when Crooks was ultimately shot and killed. The events are detailed.
For example, one local paramedic texted a colleague at 5:17 p.m. that Mr. Crooks had a rangefinder, but the colleague only saw the message at 5 p.m. He testified that it took about 40 minutes. It is unclear whether these local officials informed the leadership. The task force found that while trying to track Mr Crooks, they saw his rangefinder.
According to the report, the task force also obtained evidence suggesting that a message from local law enforcement agencies that the crooks were in possession of weapons reached President Trump’s Secret Service detail before the shooting. He says he hasn’t.
On July 24, the House of Representatives voted to establish a bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt. According to the resolution passed by the House of Representatives, the chamber will publish a final report on its findings by December 13 at the latest, “including any recommendations for legislative changes necessary to prevent future security failures.”
