Inside the GOP probe of the Trump assassination attempt

Rep. Derrick Van Orden is demanding the House set up an emergency panel to investigate the Trump assassination attempt, which he blamed on rhetoric from the media and Democrats. 'I hope [the shooting] changes the mood with the press,' Van Orden said in an interview with DailyMail.com at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in his home state of Milwaukee.

'For over a decade, the press in collusion with the Democrat Party used to be the left wing Democrats now became mainstream. For over a decade they've been saying that Trump is a Nazi. He's Hitler. He is fascist, he's gonna destroy democracy. He's against all American values. President Biden said it's time to put a bullseye on President Trump.' Van Orden went on: 'Put yourself in the shoes of that 20-year-old trying to kill him. Since the time he was 11 or 12, he has been hearing all those vitriolic lies about the president.'

'What else would make a 20-year-old climb a roof the roof knowing that for sure he's gonna get killed by taking a shot at the president other than the fact that he had been radicalized by the left wing part of the Democrat party that turned mainstream and has been projected to him since he was 11 by the media?' While the shooting prompted bipartisan condemnation and calls to tone down rhetoric, some Republicans were quick to point fingers at liberal hyperbole about Trump.

'Democrats and liberals in the media have called Trump a fascist. They've compared him to Hitler,' Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., posted on X. 'This isn't some unfortunate incident,' Scott's post continued. 'This was an assassination attempt by a madman inspired by the rhetoric of the radical left.' The now-deceased gunman was a 20-year-old Pennsylvania local. He was a registered Republican who had made a small donation to the Biden campaign.

Van Orden said the Secret Service had 'failed' that day in Butler, Pa., but refrained from calling for anyone to be fired. 'When your one job is to make sure the former president does not get shot, and the former president gets shot, there's clearly a problem - you have failed your primary mission.'

Van Orden said he's implored Speaker Mike Johnson to 'not handle this the way Congress normally handles things.' 'There's actually four different committees that have jurisdiction. I don't want a whole bunch of committees doing their own little thing.'

'We have to have a special commission that's comprised of members of those committees and other members with subject matter. expertise. We need to get this together very soon. And it needs to be completely completely open. Meaning the American people have to see everything we're doing every person we're talking to every piece of information that we have, so that they understand what the heck is going on.' Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., echoed the calls for a select post-9/11 style committee to probe the assassination.

'As a former SEAL who has set up perimeters for US and European heads of State and as a former protectee, I can say without a doubt the Select Committee to investigate failures of security and the attempted assassination of President Trump must go forward. While other bodies carry out their inquiries, it is critical for the integrity of the investigation and the trust of the American people that a commission made up of select members of the House, Senate, White House and Supreme Court is empowered with the same - if not more - rights and access to information as the 9/11 Commission,' he wrote on X. 'Many Americans rightfully do not trust the same agency that has been politically investigating and harassing Trump with investigating his near death.'

On Monday night Oversight Chairman James Comer led his committee in demanding a list of all law enforcement personnel who were on the ground at the time of the shooting, all audio and video recordings in Secret Service, all communications between agents and more. Comer also revealed the Secret Service blew off a request for a closed-door meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday - though Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is expected to appear before the committee on Monday.

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