Trump assassination attempt task force goes to Butler crime scene to get ‘answers’ as Secret Service ‘slows’ investigation

Members of the bipartisan task force on Trump’s assassination are heading to Butler, Pennsylvania, to demand answers after the Secret Service continues to ‘delay’ information.

Speaker Mike Johnson previewed the trip on Fox & Friends Monday morning, saying he has “confidence” in task force leader Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who is “doing a tremendous job.”

“They’ve dug in, they’ve gathered the answers, they’ve requested the documents. They’ve been slow, so that’s the concern. So we’re pressing ‘go’ to get the answers to the American people,” the speaker said.

DailyMail.com has learned that Kelly and the task force’s top member, Jason Crow, D-Colo., plan to talk to local police to gain “first-hand knowledge” relevant to their wide-ranging investigation.

Their trip to Butler comes days after several Secret Service agents were suspended amid the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

The massive security failure that led to the horrific events has prompted investigations by a wide range of government agencies, which are still ongoing after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president on July 13.

According to NBC News, four Pittsburgh police officers, including the department’s chief, and one Trump agent have been suspended.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) told DailyMail.com in a statement Friday that “there must be accountability” for the Secret Service’s “historic failures.”

“Holding negligent personnel accountable is the first step. I look forward to the findings of the Task Force investigation. We must ensure that the Secret Service does not fail again.”

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment on reports that the agents were suspended due to a “personnel matter.”

But he told DailyMail.com they are still ‘investigating the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure.’

“The U.S. Secret Service places high demands on our personnel. Any documented and substantiated violations of policy are investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility and may result in disciplinary action.”

The suspended agents are expected to continue working and receiving pay for the Secret Service, and have most likely been reassigned to administrative roles while the investigation continues.

Crooks’ plan led to the firing of the agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, and raised a host of questions, including how he was able to climb onto a roof with a clear view of where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Witnesses had spotted the potential killer before the shooting, and the Secret Service and police were alerted to his presence.

Still, he was able to open fire at least eight more times with the AR-style rifle his father had given him.

Republican Rep. Mike Waltz told DailyMail.com earlier this week that he was not convinced Crooks acted alone.

He said the shooter’s motive remains unknown and he is concerned that a foreign entity or other third party could be involved in the attack.

Waltz questioned how federal law enforcement can say with certainty that Crooks was a lone wolf if they can’t answer other questions, such as why he had multiple offshore accounts for encrypted messaging.

His comments came after it emerged that Iran was also planning an attack on the former president around the same time Crooks was carrying out his plan.

“The more we dig into it, the more questions I have,” Waltz said. “It’s what’s coming out around it that’s so disturbing.

“What I find most disturbing is that there are plans underway in Iran to take out a former presidential candidate, and a Pakistani national has just been arrested after making a down payment for hitmen, and this is barely in the news.”

The 20-year-old Crooks managed to make several explosives using remote detonators. This also made Waltz frown and wonder if he had help.

Thomas Matthew Crooks pictured at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 before he opened fire on the crowd and the former president

Crooks, 20, was shot dead on the spot by the U.S. Secret Service after killing a rallygoer, critically wounding two other supporters and barely missing Trump’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

While the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the Department of Homeland Security investigate the massive security lapse, Waltz and 12 other lawmakers on a House task force are also investigating the attempted assassination.

“I don’t understand, and I don’t have the answers yet to understand how the (Secret) Service and DHS came out so quickly and said — and I think the FBI did too, but I’ll have to check — and said he was acting alone,” Waltz said while speaking to DailyMail.com at Trump Tower in Chicago on Wednesday. “How do you know that just days into your investigation?”

The Florida congressman added: “You can’t tell us his motive, but you can tell us he acted alone? You can’t get to those encrypted offshore accounts, but you can tell us he acted alone? So, I don’t believe that yet.”

A bullet fired from his AR-style weapon, legally purchased by Crooks’ father, grazed the former president’s right ear.

Crooks killed one protester and seriously wounded two others before being knocked out.

The FBI also found explosives in Crooks’ car, which was parked at the rally site. And when they searched his parents’ house, where he lived, they found more bombs.

“I don’t know many 19-year-old kids who can make multiple IEDs with a remote detonator,” Waltz told DailyMail.com. “Why hasn’t that been picked up if he’s looking online or buying literature on how to do that?”