Speaker Johnson Announces Bipartisan House Task Force to Investigate Trump Assassination Attempt 👉 Updatem News

House Speaker Mike Johnson called on the Secret Service director to resign and said the House investigations would be centralized in his office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on July 17 announced that he would establish a task force in the House of Representatives to investigate the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13.

Former President Trump was grazed on his right ear by a bullet after the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired at him during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The incident was the first time in over 40 years that a U.S. president was injured in an assassination attempt.

While two House committees—the Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Homeland Security Committee—are already investigating the incident, Mr. Johnson said the task force will be able to examine the matter quickly. He said that existing investigations would be centralized in the speaker’s office.

“The reason we’re going to do it that way is because that is a more precision strike. It goes quicker. There’s not a lot of procedural hurdles,” Mr. Johnson told Fox News in an interview on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

“They will have subpoena authority for that task force, as well. It’ll be comprised of Republicans and Democrats to get down to the bottom of this quickly, so the American people can get the answers that they deserve,” Mr. Johnson added.

No ‘Satisfactory Answers’ Yet

Mr. Johnson said that the task force’s creation was prompted, in part, by his dissatisfaction with the federal government’s response to the incident.

“Within hours, I was on the phone with Secretary Mayorkas at Homeland Security. He did not have satisfactory answers at that time. I’ve since spoken to leaders of the FBI [and] the Director of National Intelligence. … There’s real questions,“ Mr. Johnson said.

The Oversight Committee was scheduled to receive a briefing from the Secret Service on July 16, though it was later canceled after the Department of Homeland Security didn’t confirm a time, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

Congressional scrutiny is primarily on the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for former President Trump and was responsible for securing the rally on Saturday. Mr. Johnson called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle during his interview.

“Her explanation to the media, that there was a slant on the roof so there was safety concerns? … I think she’s shown where her priorities are,” he noted.

Ms. Cheatle has indicated that she will not resign, though she took responsibility for security at the rally in an interview with CNN on July 16. “The Secret Service is totally responsible for the design and implementation and the execution of the site,” Ms. Cheatle said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters at a White House press briefing on July 16 that he has “100 percent confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service.”

While the Oversight and Homeland Security committees announced that they would hold hearings on July 22 and July 23, respectively, Mr. Johnson cast doubt on whether Ms. Cheatle would attend.

“We’re hearing rumblings this morning that Mayorkas may not allow her to attend,” he told Fox News.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

Running For Office? Conservative Campaign Consulting – Election Day Strategies!