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Trump assassination task force has even MORE questions after visiting Butler rally site as chair doesn't rule out 'criminal negligence'
The Donald Trump assassination task force is leaving Butler, Pennsylvania, with more questions than answers after touring the grounds where the ex-president was shot last month.
Several in the bipartisan group told DailyMail.com that they were shocked at the sheer proximity of the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, perched close to the rally stage where Trump was speaking on July 13.
They hobbled up onto the roof of the AGR building where Crooks opened fire just a few hundred yards from the former president, shooting Trump in his right ear.
The lawmakers spent time walking around the rally site to 'get an understanding of the physical space' and 'where this security shortcoming took place,' as Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., explained.
'And I'll tell you, for many of us, it raises more questions than we came here with today, because we can see it's not a large place,' she noted.
'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.'
Assassination Task Force Chairman Mike Waltz told DailyMail.com that he wishes his colleagues in Congress would 'wait until we finally find out what really has happened, as opposed to getting out early'
Ranking Member Jason Crowe (D-Colo.), who served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan, noted the many 'lines of sight that appeared to have been unsecured that day.'
'Certainly at this point, [I have] a lot more questions than answers,' he went on.
Chairman Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) even disclosed that it's too early to completely rule out 'criminal negligence' in a sign that those responsible for the near-death of the former president, and the murder of rally-goer retired firefighter Corey Comperatore, could face criminal charges.
He is also urging his colleagues in Congress to step aside and let the panel complete their investigation before releasing more information about the attempt on the former president's life by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The chairman is worried that in an effort to produce answers quickly, they might get things wrong and release inaccurate information to the public.
Some in Congress are furious that they were not selected for the 13-member panel and are working on their own to try and get answers.
Five Republicans who think they should be on the task force including former sniper Cory Mills and GOP firebrand Matt Gaetz, both representing Florida, appeared at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank on Monday just hours before the bipartisan group's second tour of the rally site in Butler.
Chairman Kelly told DailyMail.com: 'I would love for them to wait until we finally find out what really has happened, as opposed to getting out early.'
Kelly was at the rally where the former president was shot in the ear by the now-deceased 20-year-old. Kelly is now leading the effort to get to the bottom of the security failures that led to the attack.
The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump was created after a unanimous vote in Congress for the formation of a special group to probe the events that day.
The members of the bipartisan panel were chosen by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and is led by Chairman Kelly and Ranking Member Crowe.
The members are Republican Reps. Mark Green (Tenn.), David Joyce (Ohio), Laurel Lee (Fla.), Mike Waltz (Fla.), Clay Higgins (La.) and Pat Fallon (Texas). And the Democrats are Reps. J. Luis Correa (Calif.), Madeleine Dean (Pa.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Glenn Ivey (Md.) and Jared Moskowitz (Fla.).
Lawmakers on the panel toured the site of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on Monday as they try and get to the bottom of the security failures that led to the shooting
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, pictured at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 before he opened fire on the crowd and former president and was shot and killed by the Secret Service
Meanwhile, a group of five Republicans were at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. holding a hearing-type format where they wanted to present their own findings related to the assassination.
The lawmakers holding the event are Republicans Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Cory Mills (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas).
One guest of the congressmen was former SWAT regional officer Ben Shaffer, a counter sniper who was on the job during the Butler rally.
He reaffirmed previous revelations that local law enforcement offered encrypted radios to the Secret Service, which the agency denied to take.
Five members of Congress angry that they were not selected for the task force held a hearing-style event at the Heritage Foundation on Monday that sought to find answers about the assassination attempt
Trump was shot in the side of the ear. One rally goer was killed and two others were critically injured. Multiple Secret Service agents have been put on leave during the investigation into the assassination attempt, reports reveal
Shaffer also claims that the knowledge Crooks was using a rangefinder would have elevated him from a 'person of interest' to someone 'who would have warranted some type of investigatory detention' by agents.
Rep. Mills, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, said at the event on Monday in Butler that this 'will not be the last' of its kind.
'This is a message to all of Congress, that if we are not selecting people based on meritocracy, that independent investigations will continue to move forward,' he added.
Asked if his colleagues are undermining the task force's efforts, Kelly told DailyMail.com in Butler on Monday: 'As members of Congress, they can do that, but we were the only task force that was put in place by the speaker and the minority leader.'
'I would love for them to wait until we finally find out what really has happened, as opposed to getting out early,' he continued. 'Getting out early is all right, as long as you know when you get out there, what you're saying is actually what took place.'
'We have talented people in Congress right now, and they love to get involved in these things. That's fine, that's fine,' the slightly exacerbated chairman said. 'But there is a task force. It's been appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader.'
'I would like to – just give us the time to get in this. We didn't just start today. This started way back in early August.'
