Trump assassination task force begins investigation with slew of letters to federal agencies

The House panel tasked with investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump is beginning its work in earnest with a slew of letters sent to federal agencies requesting documents and other information regarding security failures during the Pennsylvania campaign rally last month. 

The task force, which was established shortly after the assassination attempt, sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. requesting documents and briefings from the agencies regarding the shooting. The letters seek to establish the task force as the primary investigative body even as a handful of House committees have opened their own inquiries into the matter.

The letters cite H.R. 1367, which passed the House last month to create the task force and allows the panel to “investigate and fully examine all actions by any agency, Department, officer, or employee of the federal government” and “requires all relevant records to be transferred to the Task Force from other House committees.”

“This letter serves as notice … that the Task Force’s requests for documents and information henceforth supersede all other requests from House Committees and Members, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should produce documents and information directly to the Task Force from this point forward,” the letter reads.

The letter requests the agencies to provide all documents and information that have already been shared with other committees. Lawmakers are also pressing the departments to schedule a briefing with lawmakers “no later than Aug. 16.”

The task force is split among parties, with seven Republicans and six Democrats appointed to the panel. That ratio gives GOP lawmakers ultimate control over the task force’s decisions, but leaders have indicated it would largely act in a bipartisan manner.

The task force itself was approved with a rare unanimous vote last month, just over one week after Trump was shot in the ear by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The shooting left one attendee dead and two others injured.

The security failures at the rally have prompted widespread scrutiny among lawmakers in both parties who called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. She later stepped down from her position after a contentious hearing before the House Oversight Committee, during which both Republicans and Democrats criticized her leadership.

The task force investigation is expected to conclude and produce a final report by Dec. 13, although lawmakers are expected to release interim reports along the way, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).