FILE PHOTO: A member of the FBI Evidence Response Team, works near the building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, near the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a rally the day before, in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will establish a bipartisan task force next week to investigate the attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a weekend rally, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday.
Members of the House and Senate are preparing for separate briefings with top officials from the U.S. Secret Service and FBI, including FBI Director Christopher Wray. The shooting wounded Trump in the ear, killed a rally attendee, injured two others and has raised concerns about a failing by the U.S. Secret Service.
"The reason we're going to do it that way is because that is a more precise strike. It goes quicker, there's not a lot of the procedural hurdles, and we'll have subpoena authority for that task force as well," the top Republican in Congress told Fox News.
"It'll be comprised of Republicans and Democrats to get down to the bottom of this quickly, so the American people can get the answers that they deserve," he said.
Johnson's office provided no further details.
Johnson is among the Republicans who have called for the ouster of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is due to testify next week in separate hearings before the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees.
The Saturday shooting has raised concerns about how the suspect, 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to access a roof with a direct line of sight to where Trump was speaking.
The Secret Service is charged with protecting presidents, former presidents and presidential candidates and their families.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Diane Craft)
