Congresswoman on Trump assassination attempt task force says there were "enormous gaps" in communication
Washington — Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is one of 13 lawmakers on a bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, said on Sunday that there were "enormous gaps" in communication in the July shooting on the former president.
"In terms of people texting information to each other rather than using 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 some gaps, frankly, in kind of culture and people being relatively lax in the way that they communicated with one another. And all of these things have to be fixed."
Houlahan is the panel of seven Republicans and six Democrats chosen by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She said the group has been getting the answers they've been asking for from the Secret Service and local law enforcement while urging the importance of the panel working quickly and on a bipartisan basis "to be able to understand what happened" and to make sure "it doesn't happen again."
"To make sure that we restore the faith and trust in the with the American people in the institutions such as law enforcement and the Congress," Houlahan added.
The task force, which will submit a final report of its findings in the July 13 shooting by Dec. 13, was briefed behind closed doors last week after another apparent assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Course in Florida.
The task force's investigation is among a number that are occurring in the aftermath of the July attempt on Trump's life during a rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation into the motive of the gunman, while the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog are examining the security failures.
On Friday, the Secret Service admitted to some of its own failures in the July 13 assassination attempt in a five-page summary of its forthcoming report. The agency highlighted the "communications deficiencies" it had with state and local law enforcement assisting with security at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Houlahan said she believes the Secret Service is focused on how they can correct the shortcomings, and Congress' attention is focused on the agency and what resources it can provide to make sure those changes are implemented.
The House unanimously voted on Friday to boost Secret Service protection for all major presidential and vice presidential candidates following the second apparent assassination attempt against Trump, approving the protection to be raised to the level of a sitting president.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who also appeared on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, said when it comes to the assassination attempt, "people are rightful to be suspicious and distrusting" of the FBI investigation.
"That's why disclosure and openness with regards to these investigations, is so critical," 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."
On the broader political environment, Houlahan pointed to the high temperature, urging that it needs to be reigned in.
"We really do need to dial down the temperature and the vitriol," Houlahan said. "And I think that it's important that everybody do that."