Pa. congressman to lead House task force investigating Trump assassination attempt

By Kevin Freking The Associated Press

4 months ago

FILE - Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., is pictured at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 13, 2023. Kelly w ... — FILE – Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., is pictured at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 13, 2023. Kelly will lead a House task force charged with investigating the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Kelly was appointed leader of the effort on Monday, July 29, 2024. Kelly was present at the Trump rally and his congressional district includes the city of Butler, Pa., where the attack occurred. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania congressman who witnessed the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump firsthand will lead the House task force charged with investigating what went wrong and recommending solutions to help ensure such an attack doesn’t happen again.

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly represents the city of Butler, where the July 13 attack occurred. He attended Trump’s campaign rally and sponsored the legislation to create the task force, saying his community was grieving and that “the people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York jointly announced on Monday that 13 lawmakers had been appointed to the task force. It will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats and will issue a final report before Dec. 13. To conduct its investigation, the House approved a resolution giving the panel the authority to issue subpoenas.

“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” Johnson and Jeffries said in their statement.

Many of the lawmakers have a background in law enforcement, legal affairs or the military. The panel will assume control and jurisdiction over all pending House committee investigations about the Trump assassination attempt, streamlining the work.

The other Republican members of the task force are Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee; Rep. David Joyce of Ohio, a former county prosecutor; Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida, a former assistant U.S. attorney; Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces; Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a former Army staff sergeant and local law enforcement officer; and Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas, a former U.S. Air Force officer.

Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado will serve as the lead Democratic member of the committee. He is a decorated former Army Ranger having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other Democratic members are Rep. Lou Correa of California, who sits on the subcommittee that recently visited the site of the assassination attempt; Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, who served in that state’s House of Representatives for more than six years before coming to Congress; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force; Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland, a former assistant U.S. attorney and state’s attorney for Prince George’s County; and Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, the former director of emergency management in that state.