Washington — Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is one of 13 lawmakers in a bipartisan working group The US news agency investigating the assassination attempt on Donald Trump said on Sunday there were “huge gaps” in communication between the two countries. July shooting of former president.
“In terms of people texting each other information rather than using the radio, “In terms of people not even knowing that there were two command centers, there were huge gaps,” Houlahan said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “And there were also gaps, frankly, in the kind of culture and people were relatively lax in how they communicated with each other. And all of those things need to be addressed.”
Houlahan is the group of seven Republicans and six Democrats selected by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She said the group has gotten the answers it sought from the Secret Service and local law enforcement, while stressing the importance of the group working quickly and on a bipartisan basis “to be able to understand what happened” and to ensure “this doesn’t happen again.”
“To make sure that we restore the faith and trust of the American people in institutions like law enforcement and Congress,” Houlahan added.
The task force, which will submit a final report on its findings regarding the July 13 shooting by Dec. 13, was briefed behind closed doors last week after another Apparently, assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Course in Florida.
The task force’s investigation is part of a series of probes following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last July at a rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation into the shooter’s motives, while the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog are examining security failures.
Friday, the secret services admitted In a five-page summary of its upcoming report, the agency cited some of its own failures during the July 13 assassination attempt. The agency highlighted “communication failures” it had with local and state law enforcement who helped provide security at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Houlahan said she believes the Secret Service is focused on how it can fix the shortcomings, and that Congress’s attention is focused on the agency and the resources it can provide to ensure those changes are implemented.
The House voted unanimously The administration on Friday decided to step up Secret Service protection for all major presidential and vice presidential candidates after the second apparent assassination attempt on Trump, approving that protection be raised to the level of a sitting president.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who also appeared on “Face the Nation” Sunday, said that when it comes to the assassination attempt, “people have a right to be suspicious and distrustful” of the FBI investigation.
“That’s why transparency and openness in these investigations are so important,” Rubio said. “It’s not just because we want to know. It’s because it’s important to preserve trust in our institutions, and we’re not seeing that.”
Regarding the broader political environment, Houlahan highlighted the high temperature, urging that it be brought under control.
“We really need to lower the temperature and the vitriol,” Houlahan said. “And I think it’s important that everybody does that.”
