The bipartisan House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump visited the rally site of the shooting Monday in Butler, Pennsylvania, as they try to make more sense of what allowed it to occur.
The tour is part of a four-month probe the House is conducting into organizational failures surrounding the July 13 shooting that left Trump wounded. One Trump supporter was also killed by the gunman, and two others were wounded.
The visit to the campaign rally site also comes just days after several Secret Service members were placed on administrative leave amid intense scrutiny directed toward the agency.
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After the tour, task force ranking member Rep. Jason Crow — who was a military intelligence officer — said that he now has more questions after seeing the rally site first-hand. Reps. Laurel Lee and Madeline Dean also noted that they were struck by the proximity of the space and how the gunman was able to get as close as he was to the former president.
"It's not a large place," Lee said. "We can get a sense of the area and just how close these buildings were to that stage where President Trump stood that day. So, for all of us, having an opportunity to see and to walk around and experience this was a really critical step in our investigative process."
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The task force is trying to move quickly as it only has until Dec. 13 to complete its investigation. To aid in that, the committee does have subpoena power that they are expected to begin using in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security said that it would conduct an independent 45-day review of the shooting. That review could be concluded in the coming weeks.
