Orginally Published in 69 News
By Caitlin Rearden

WASHINGTON, D.C., - A bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives task force held its first public hearing Thursday on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, PA.

"What we do know is the documents and testimony point to several fundamental failures on July 13th and the days leading up to the rally," said U.S. Representative Mike Kelly, the chairman.

Experts from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, Butler Township Police, Pennsylvania State Police and a former Secret Service agent testified. So did the Allegheny County Medical Examiner, who performed the autopsy on Thomas Crooks, the shooter.

"In the hours leading up to the attempted assassination, Crooks had a prolonged and unimpeded ability to scout the target and identify the most advantageous shooting positions, even as Crooks was flagged multiple times for suspicious behavior," said Kelly.

Chairman Kelly said the situation was entirely preventable.

Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, who serves part of Berks County, focused her questions on communications and radio protocol, and voiced concerns about future threats.

"We're always trying to solve, for the last problem that we had, a shooter, a sniper. To me, we should be solving for the future problems that we are seeing coming around the corner," said Houlahan. "Those are emerging threats or evolving threats such as drone technologies."

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who also serves parts of Berks, asked about farm vehicles that were expected to be posted along the fence line to inhibit visibility. She says those weren't present and asked if that information was ever discussed.

"It is stunning the proximity of that rooftop and all of that property," said Dean.

The task force recently expanded to include the second assassination attempt of Trump in Florida. It's expected to come up with a series of reforms and issue a report by December 13th.