exclusive: Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., a former Navy SEAL, is concerned that the bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump is missing a key component regarding the experiences of its members.
“I did reach out to the speaker and reminded the speaker that I was… one of the snipers in Congress. I think there were only three of us. So obviously it had nothing to do with me,” Klain told Fox News Digital said during the interview.
“I think there are three – myself, [Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas]. If one of us was put on that committee, I think it would show that they were actually trying to provide at least a cross-departmental experience to that committee. But that didn’t happen.
Klain believes the circumstances of the shooting — a 20-year-old gunman who fired an AR-style rifle 400 to 500 feet away from Trump and was later killed by a Secret Service sniper — add to the suspicion of someone with his experience. need.
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Rep. Eli Crane talks to Fox News Digital about bipartisan House task force investigating former President Trump’s assassination attempt (Getty Images)
“I’m a former SEAL sniper. The actual term is NSW, which is Naval Special Warfare Sniper. I graduated from sniper school in 2009 and went to several other advanced sniper schools. I think it’s important “The reason is because, apparently … the person who was accused of trying to kill the president did shoot the president and was being trained before shooting the president,” Crane said.
“You’re dealing with a counter-sniper team. You’re dealing with the preliminary work that’s been done, you’re dealing with, you know, people who can quote angles, trajectories – all the things that a sniper has to be good at, and so I I don’t know, in this particular case, it makes sense that you might want people in your work group with that kind of background and experience.
The task force, made up of six Democrats and seven Republicans, was announced by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York after a unanimous House vote.
Crane and Mills aim to launch a parallel investigation to address what they see as shortcomings of the existing task force, Mills said Monday.
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Rep. Corey Mills announced he wants to launch a parallel investigation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“I hope members [the] The task force, well, believes it is time to conduct a parallel independent investigation with subject matter experts (SMEs) and whistleblowers who have come forward,” Mills wrote, adding that he and Crane have heard from people in those groups .
The current task force is led by Rep. Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican whose district where the shooting occurred and who has close ties to local law enforcement, and Jason Crow, who was also responsible for the shooting that day. Security Matters.
The panel also includes several other veterans, including Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Rep. Mike Walz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Chrissy Hoolahan (R-Pa.) state Democrats). It also includes legal experts such as attorney Crowe and Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., a former assistant district attorney.
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But Mills and Klain both accused House leaders of being politically motivated in selecting the task force.
“I think some of the most qualified people were clearly left out. So, like a lot of things in Washington, there was a lot of politics involved in the formation of this task force,” Crane said.
He said “several other” lawmakers who were “pretty impressive” had also expressed their concerns.
Jeffries, Johnson, Kelly and Crowe all stressed they want the investigation to be free of political influence. Crowe told Fox News Digital earlier this week that it would be a “robust and serious” investigation.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are leading a bipartisan task force in the General Assembly. (Getty Images)
Jeffries’ office declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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Asked whether he was concerned that establishing his own Republican-led investigation might itself be seen as political, Klain said: “I’m not really concerned, but is that possible? Absolutely.”
But panelist Walz told Fox News Digital that he was not concerned about either investigation politicizing the other.
“Look, if we have somebody who wants to bring in — like Rep. Cory Mills, who I plan to use his expertise as a former sniper, Rep. Eli Crane, a former SEAL Commando snipers — look, I mean, we should use their expertise,” Walz said. “If they want to bring in outside experts from within their network, I think it’s a comprehensive approach. So the more eyeballs on it, the better.”
