FIRST ON FOX: The bipartisan House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump is set to visit the site of the shooting later this month.
Task force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., spoke with Fox News Digital a day after the panel formally kicked off its probe into the deadly July 13 event, where a 20-year-old gunman opened fire during Trump’s speech in Butler, Penn., and killed one rally attendee.
The Butler visit, happening the week of Aug. 26, will mark the first time the seven House Republicans and six House Democrats appointed to the task force will meet in person to advance their probe. Kelly said nearly all 13 lawmakers are confirmed to attend.
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Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Penn., July 13, 2024. Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“There are other members who have never been there, and so we want them to see the actual physical assets that were there that day. We won’t be able to exactly view the crime scene because it’s all been torn down and moved away, but we will have enough personal time on the grounds so people can look out and say, ‘So there’s the roof that the shooter was on,’ and ‘This is approximately where the podium was set up for former President of the United States,’” Kelly explained.
He said they would also meet with local officials while there, something Kelly himself has already done.
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Rep. Mike Kelly is the chairman of the task force (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital )
The longtime Pennsylvania Republican lawmaker represents the area where the shooting took place and was at the rally with his family that day.
“I thought the president was dead,” Kelly said matter-of-factly when recalling the initial horrifying moments.
He also said it brought back memories of living through the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963 – and Kelly vowed Americans would see more transparency now than they did then.
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Law enforcement officers gather at campaign rally site for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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“To this day, there’s still people – we never really found out what happened that day, and I don’t want that to ever happen again. We’re going to come up with an answer before the end of the year, and working around election schedules and everything else, we’re still going to get the answers the American people need to have,” he said.
Part of that work will also include public hearings when Congress is back in session after Labor Day weekend, Kelly said.