Rep. Mike Waltz says FBI has “stonewalled” House task force on attempted assassinations

With few details still known about Thomas Matthew Crooks, former President Trump’s potential assassin, a member of the House task force investigating the assassination attempt said the FBI has been less than forthcoming in its investigation.

Republican Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, a member of the bipartisan assassination task force, appeared on “Fox News Sunday” with fellow Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania to discuss the group’s investigation into the failures of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) during the July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Crooks fired a series of shots from a rooftop without being prevented from doing so.

While Waltz and Dean both said the failures appeared to lie with the USSS, which has since taken full responsibility, Waltz welcomed the agency’s openness in the investigation, whereas the FBI – more than two months after the attack – did not.

“The Secret Service has been open about its failure to communicate with the locals who have command posts. The FBI, on the other hand, has completely blocked this task force,” Waltz said. “It has not been open about its failure to communicate with the locals who have command posts.”

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Waltz said he would welcome FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas holding a press conference like the one recently held by the USSS.

“We still know virtually nothing about Crooks, Butler’s shooter, about his encrypted accounts, or how he learned to build these explosive devices,” the congressman said.

The shooting at the Trump rally on July 13 has drawn attention to the USSS and sparked debate about whether the security of elected officials is adequately ensured in today’s hyper-partisan environment.

Acting Director of the US Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. speaks to the media at a press conference to provide an update on the investigation into the second suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on September 16 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Mega for Fox News Digital)

Waltz said another point of “growing bipartisan frustration” with the FBI concerns Iran, particularly the regime’s numerous ongoing plans to kill Trump and its hacking of Trump campaign information, which it then passed on to the Biden-Harris campaign.

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“And when we were asked about it behind closed doors, the FBI would not give us any information to the Intelligence Committee,” Waltz said. “Just this week. That is totally unacceptable and we have to issue these subpoenas.”

Dean added that it made “sense” for the task force to also investigate the second alleged assassination attempt against Trump, which occurred on Monday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, and condemned any political violence.

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“I want to set a baseline that political violence has no place in this country,” the congresswoman said.