Members of Congress who this week attended federal briefings on the investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump told Scripps News they are feeling unsatisfied with what they’ve learned so far.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a 1,” said Rep. Greg Lopez, a Republican from Colorado.
The FBI has not released any details to the public about the shooting since its update on July 15, but on Wednesday several members of Congress learned details about the investigation in unclassified briefings made over a conference call.
The FBI, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security were represented on the call which lasted less than a half-hour, according to Lopez.
Lopez told Scripps News he felt the briefing he attended was “purposely” vague when federal law enforcement leaders were describing what the shooter’s motive might be.
Lopez said authorities seemed to deflect by reminding members of Congress that investigators never determined a motive for the mass shooter in Las Vegas who killed nearly 60 people in 2017.
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They said, “’ So don’t be surprised if we can’t find a motive,’” Lopez recalled. “It’s kind of like the Kennedy assassination. It’s like someone knows, but they don’t want to share anything, so instead of being truthful I felt they were being very vague purposely as to what might be the motive.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., sent a letter this week to President Joe Biden containing a litany of questions he would like answered while demanding a daily public press conference be held by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Secret Service.
“There is a lot of information out there, some real and some not, and when there is a lack of transparency, people naturally assume the worst,” he wrote. “I write today to urge you and your administration to take every action necessary to share updates with President Trump, Congress and the American people ... Now is the time for absolute transparency and accountability.”
In a phone interview with Scripps News’ disinformation reporter Liz Landers, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said he believes the head of the Secret Service should resign or be fired after failing to stop Thomas Matthew Crooks from shooting the former President.
“Why wasn’t that rooftop secure so close to the stage? How did the shooter get up on the rooftop?” he asked.
According to Sen. Barrasso, authorities identified the shooter as a suspicious person at least an hour before the shooting, and at least 10 minutes before Trump took the stage Crooks had been deemed a threat.
“Why in the world would they allow the president to go on stage knowing that there was an active threat within that close of a distance?” he said.
“They should have very clearly stopped the event — paused the event — until they had this person of interest in custody, or they had him off the roof,” Lopez said. The congressman added that he learned the shooter had been spotted walking around with a device used to measure distance prior to the event.
“People, I think, really want to know why is it there was almost an assassination of our [former] president in the United States when we are supposed to have an agency that is top notch to protect them, and yet they failed in their duty,” said Lopez.
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This week, Scripps News confirmed a local police department that had been directing traffic ahead of the rally had been alerted to a “suspicious male” upon Trump’s arrival.
“Several officers broke free from their traffic intersections of responsibility and responded to the area to aid in the search,” Tom Knights, the Butler Township manager, said in a statement on behalf of the police department.
Knights said the officers tried to search the area near the American Glass Research building, where the shooter was perched on the rooftop, but they were unable to locate him, and no ladder was discovered.
“A Butler Township officer attempted to gain access to the roof by being hoisted up by an assisting officer,” Knights said. “The officer was pulling himself up to the roof when he made visual contact with an individual who pointed a rifle at him. The officer was in a defenseless position and there was no way he could engage the actor while holding onto the roof edge.”
Knights said the officer fell to the ground after letting go from the edge, and “Butler Township Police immediately communicated the individual’s location and that he was in possession of a weapon. Moments later, the individual commenced firing.”
Barrasso said authorities also revealed details about the search of the 20-year-old shooter’s family home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Barrasso said investigators recovered at least 14 guns. They also found two explosive devices and a drone in the shooter's car, as well as two cellphones.
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Lopez said he learned during the briefing that the shooter had conducted online searches for where President Joe Biden and President Trump were going to be, but investigators believed Crooks acted alone.
Lopez said he wanted to ask a question during the briefing, but the meeting was cut short. He planned to ask about accountability, he said.
“Did any of the decision-makers — any of the people involved in putting together the plans on protecting former President Trump — or any of those department heads that were at the event or since the event — has anybody been removed or suspended from their responsibilities and their duties while they’re doing this investigation? Because traditionally that’s what usually happens,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he was told that another briefing would likely occur next week.
Scripps News has repeatedly asked the FBI for more information. On Friday the national press office said, “We don’t have anything more to provide beyond our previously issued statements.”
Some lawmakers will have an opportunity to question Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle next week. She is set to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
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