The office of a House Democrat who played a key role in the first impeachment of former President Trump is now pushing back against Republican-led criticism that he should not be serving on a task force investigating the assassination attempt on the former president.
New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who came under fire last year for saying Trump “must be removed,” is among the Democrats being considered to join a bipartisan committee investigating the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
“As someone who has dedicated her life to democracy and the rule of law, Congressman Goldman immediately clarified her erroneous statements from last November and emphasized her strong condemnation of any political violence. The Congressman asked pointed questions at last week’s Congressional hearing, demonstrating that the Secret Service must be held accountable for its unacceptable security failures and is committed to ensuring that such failures never happen again,” Goldman spokesperson Madison Andrus told Fox News Digital.
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Rep. Dan Goldman is being considered to join a bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempt on President Trump, sources tell Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)
Goldman first rose to national prominence as the lead Democratic lawyer in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and has been a vocal critic of Trump since joining Congress in January 2023.
The possibility of him being assigned to the committee has already angered Trump supporters since it was first reported in 2010. Punchbowl News Friday morning.
One of the leading critics was Donald Trump Jr., who recalled Goldman saying Trump needed to be “removed” in a November 2023 interview on MSNBC. Goldman has since apologized for the allegations.
“Democrats are trying to appoint Dan Goldman to the committee investigating the assassination attempt. A few weeks ago he called for DJT to be ‘removed’. Probably not the best person to have on this select committee,” Trump Jr. wrote on X.
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Donald Trump Jr. criticized Goldman’s reporting. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Goldman wrote to X in November 2023, “I accidentally used the wrong words on television yesterday to convey that it is important for America that Donald Trump not become president again. While Trump must be defeated, I do not wish harm upon him, nor do I condone political violence. I apologize for my poor choice of words.”
“Democrats are clearly planning to assign a conspiracy theorist like Dan Goldman to the task force investigating the Trump assassination attempt,” Philip Letsow, deputy communications director for the Senate Republican campaign team, wrote on the site.
The House voted unanimously 416-0 to create the committee last week. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said the committee would be made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats, selected by him and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
As of Friday morning, Jeffries’ office told Fox News Digital that a final decision had not yet been made.
Rep. Mike Kelly, whose district includes the shooting, is likely to join the committee. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
But a second source who spoke to Fox News Digital said another leading candidate is Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who served as Prince George’s County state’s attorney for nearly a decade from 2003 to 2011 and will run for Congress in 2023.
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On the Republican side, a senior Republican senator told Fox News Digital, “It seems like half of our senators want to be on the task force.”
A third source who spoke to Fox News Digital said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania), whose district includes the shooting, was at the scene when it happened, was under strong consideration for a key role on the committee.
Kelly also led a resolution establishing the task force that passed the House this week.
