Trump assassination task force issues subpoenas for ATF testimony

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KDKA) — The House task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump issued subpoenas on Monday to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for testimony from two ATF employees regarding the response to the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting.

The subpoenas follow letters from the task force’s chairman, Rep. Mike Kelly, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Ranking Member Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, seeking documents and testimony on Oct. 3 and Nov. 6. 

A shooter opened fire at Trump’s July 13th rally in Butler, wounding Trump when a bullet grazed his ear. A rally-goer was killed and two others were wounded before Secret Service snipers shot and killed the gunman, later identified as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man. Since then, Trump won the presidential election and will be headed to the White House in January. 

In a release from Kelly’s office, the task force said the ATF had not produced any requested documents or made any personnel available for interviews with the task force, and the ATF made its first set of documents available less than an hour after served the subpoenas for depositions.

The ATF said in a statement late Tuesday that the agency is “fully committed to supporting the Task Force and addressing its requests promptly and transparently,” but also stated that ATF had shared a briefing that confirmed the agency “no formal role in planning or securing the July 13th campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.”

The ATF said this briefing also outlined how the agency assisted in the investigation after the assassination attempt, including “quickly tracing the firearm used in the attempt – evidence that was crucial to identifying the attempted assassin.”

One of the two subpoenas for depositions was issued to an agent who participated in the agency’s response to the shooting in Butler, the release said. The other is for testimony from a supervisory agent, according to the media release.

Excerpts from Kelly’s letters to the two ATF employees stated that the task force “specifically outlined seventeen requests for document production, even going so far as to note which were the priority items. In addition, the Task Force identified three categories of requests for transcribed interviews with relevant ATF agents.”

The bipartisan House task force said last month that the incident was “preventable,” detailing in a report that there were communication and planning shortcomings.