House GOP faces competing Trump assassination attempt probes

Speaker Mike Johnson quickly moved last month to launch a bipartisan investigation into the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. House conservatives made it clear on Monday that they have their own ideas.

Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries each appointed members late last month to a task force that is aimed at identifying failures that led to the shooting and preventing such an incident from happening again. The panel was unanimously approved by House lawmakers, has subpoena power and effectively took over investigations related to the assassination attempt, a way to theoretically prevent multiple unwieldy probes.

But some conservative lawmakers are determined to look into it themselves, a sign of the right flank’s frustration about who ultimately got seats on the panel and the pace of existing investigations, which span both Congress and the administration. Johnson had privately indicated that he wanted “serious” Republicans to take part in the task force, and he did appoint multiple conservatives to the panel . Still, he’s gotten flack from members further to the right who accused him of sidelining lawmakers who have previously rebelled against leadership.

Five conservatives on Monday held an event in Washington — billed as a forum held at The Heritage Foundation — vowing to push forward with their own probe into the assassination attempt. They questioned security decisions leading up to the shooting and encouraged whistleblowers to come forward.

“While this is the first hearing ... it won’t be the last,” Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said at the Washington event. “This is a message to all of Congress. … There are members [and] conservatives who will not be silenced.”

Meanwhile, a split screen played out in Butler, Pennsylvania, where members of the bipartisan task force viewed the site of Trump’s July 13 rally and met with local law enforcement. They briefed reporters shortly after the Washington press conference concluded.

The GOP-only group will likely face an uphill battle as it tries to run its own investigation. In addition to the fact that the bipartisan task force holds superseding authority, the conservative probe will have to rely on whistleblowers and public information since it doesn’t possess subpoena power.

The bipartisan task force does include House Freedom Caucus members like Mark Green of Tennessee and Clay Higgins of Louisiana. But some conservatives, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), pushed for Johnson to put Mills and Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) on the bipartisan panel that has 13 total members, entreaties Johnson ultimately ignored. Those three are now taking part in the GOP-only probe.

On Monday, members of the task force acknowledged they are aware of the other probes but stressed that the House had put them in the driver’s seat going forward. They made it clear that they intend to keep hold of the wheel.

“According to the legislation that was passed last month, we are the sole task force of jurisdiction for this House of Representatives for this investigation. And we are proceeding that way,” said Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, the top Democrat on the task force. “We are aware of other members conducting reviews, but again, this is the committee … that the House of Representatives has empowered.”

Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), also a member of the bipartisan panel, added that “this is the committee that will have the ability to subpoena records.”

The bipartisan task force, as part of the resolution establishing it, has until mid-December to release a final report, including legislative recommendations. The FBI briefed members of the panel last week and the Secret Service also briefed panel staff.

GOP leadership looked to appoint members with a former military, law enforcement or legal background. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who represents Butler in Congress, is chairing the task force and leaned into its bipartisan roots on Monday.

“We are U.S. representatives — not Democrats, not Republicans, but both — searching for the answers and reassuring the American people that we can work together and we can get the right answers so this doesn’t happen again,” Kelly told reporters.

But members of the GOP group, while not naming the task force directly, criticized the pace of the House’s investigation so far, arguing that subpoenas should have been sent out the day after the shooting occurred. The task force wasn’t established until July 24, but various House committees almost immediately started investigating after the assassination attempt.

Conservatives also suggested that the longer the investigations lingered, the more questions Americans would have.

“It’s imperative that we continue to conduct oversight regarding the actions and failures that occurred on and surrounding July 13,” Crane said.

The two groups have some overlapping areas of interest as they investigate, including why the rally site didn’t have better security, the establishment of the security perimeter and why Trump was allowed to stay on the stage after rally goers noticed a man, who was the shooter, on a nearby roof. However, multiple members of the GOP group went further on Monday, suggesting that the security failures could have been negligent to the point of being malicious.

Still, lawmakers on the bipartisan task force stressed on Monday that their efforts wouldn’t be rushed, with Kelly telling reporters that “getting to the truth is a slow process.”

“None of us are looking at it as we have to get a quick answer. We’re looking at it as, we have to get the right answer,” he said. “The most important thing that we can get out there is not get it out quickly, but get it out accurately. So the American people can say, ‘OK, that makes sense.’”