First appeared on FOX: As details of the assassination attempt on former President Trump begin to emerge, a Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would force the federal government to release all information related to the case.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plans to introduce the “Trump Assassination Attempt Transparency Act” on Thursday, the day after FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about the investigation into the Trump rally shooting and suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
“The truth about the assassination attempt on President Trump must come out,” Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We cannot allow the federal government to hide behind the label ‘classified.'”
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Senator Josh Hawley has introduced the Trump Assassination Attempt Transparency Act, which would declassify government information about plots to assassinate President Trump. (Kevin Dietsch/Staff)
The bill would require the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to declassify key information about the assassination attempt, the shooter’s motives, and President Trump’s repeated requests for information. If passed, the bill would also require the intelligence agencies to report their findings to Congress.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned this week, a day after she faced bipartisan criticism during testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday and more than a week after would-be assassin Thomas Crooks tried to take President Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Trump narrowly escaped being shot in the head during a rally in Pennsylvania after he turned briefly to read a chart on a screen, dodging a bullet fired by 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks’ AR-15-style rifle by just a quarter of an inch; the bullet instead struck him in the upper right ear.
One of the bullets fired by Crooks killed former fire chief, father and husband Corey Comperatore, and also severely wounded two other bystanders as he tried to shield his family from oncoming gunfire.
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Sniper photograph of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Senator Ron Johnson’s Office)
Since the tragic incident, more questions have arisen than answers as lawmakers try to determine what security failures occurred that day and continue investigations of intelligence officials.
“This investigation must be open for the American people to see, and there can be no more stonewalling or dodging of questions,” Hawley said. “It’s time for accountability.”
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Helen Comperatore, the wife of Corey Comperatore, called for help on July 13, shortly after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on former President Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
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The House of Representatives also voted unanimously Thursday morning to establish a bipartisan committee to investigate the assassination attempt on President Trump.
The vote was predictably bipartisan, coming hours after the shooting that sparked a wave of bipartisan condemnation of political violence and scrutiny of the security situation that allowed a rifle-wielding 20-year-old gunman to get onto a rooftop just outside the rally’s perimeter.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
