Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) asserted the Trump campaign dismissed his unease before the rally at which the former president survived an attempted assassination.
Kelly heads the bipartisan congressional commission investigating security failures that enabled a gunman to open fire on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a Pennsylvania rally last month.
"I made a statement [to the campaign] when they first told me that,” Kelly said as he remembered his reaction to the Trump campaign’s decision to hold the rally at a Butler County location in his home district.
“I said, 'You can't do it there,'" Kelly told NOTUS. "'It's too small.’ The idea was that they had already made a decision, but it's not the right place. The answer came back, 'Well, we've already made a decision.' I said, 'Well, then, who did the site visit?' And the answer back was, 'Congressman, we told you we've already made a decision.'"
The Pennsylvania Republican is a staunch Trump ally who spoke onstage just minutes before the former president’s speech at the now-infamous Butler County rally. Worried that the location the former president’s campaign had picked out was not suitable for a large-scale event, he told Trump’s handlers that the Butler Farm Show grounds was a "disaster" pick as a rally site.
"I said to them, 'You guys made the wrong decision,'" the Pennsylvania Republican continued. "'This is going to be very dangerous.' And they said, 'Well, we've already made the decision.' So from that point on, I was concerned."
A spokesperson for Kelly told the outlet that “dangerous” specifically referred to the planned venue’s small size and limited traffic flow.
"He was concerned particularly because there were larger venues in the area (crowd size and general safety) and also venues that were better for traffic. (This site has road work and it’s a two-lane highway)" the spokesperson said.
The Trump campaign has pushed back on Kelly’s comments.
“Venue size, traffic, and parking have nothing to do with the assassination attempt on President Trump's life, and any suggestion that the campaign was aware of information that could have prevented the President being shot is appalling and categorically false," a Trump campaign spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
Kelly's bipartisan task force is also scrutinizing the FBI, Secret Service, and local law enforcement officials for allowing a gunman to access a rooftop a few hundred yards from Trump's rally stage in Butler County.
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Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last month over the security breach.
Meanwhile, a preliminary report from the congressional task force released earlier this month blasted the FBI for allegedly destroying vital evidence related to the attempted assassination and obstructing justice.
This story has been updated to include the full quote given to NOTUS from Kelly's spokesperson.
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