Lee Says Memo on Threats to Trump Are a Major Step in Investigation

The House task force investigating the two assassination attempts of former President Donald Trump is seeking all information about threats to the life of Trump as part of the investigation, which Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) discussed in a Sunday appearance on Fox News, saying the Secret Service has already improved its protection detail since the September 15th shooting.

"It is critical for the task force to understand what types of threats were being made against the president and what the Secret Service and other federal law enforcement were aware of at the time these incidents occurred. So we need to understand what they knew, what they should have been prepared for, and then also where the breakdowns were between federal and local law enforcement that allowed these would-be assassins to get so close to the president," said Rep. Lee.

Additionally, she noted that the bipartisan nature of the task force demonstrates that "we want to be sure that President Trump, Vice President [Kamala] Harris, and anyone who goes to or attends these rallies is going to be kept safe by the Secret Service and any other local law enforcement that are there."

The host asked what the next step would be after obtaining the information about any and all threats to Trump, which Rep. Lee said was already being worked on.

"We have already made substantial progress by the work we have already done. The Secret Service has already enhanced the level of detail and the level of protection that is being assigned to President Trump without question. There are lessons learned on these critical failures that have already happened," the Florida Congresswoman described. 

Lee continued that the long-term goal was "understanding what needs to be done at the agency to review, to modernize procedures they are using to ensure accountability so that when there are breakdowns like this that could be absolutely catastrophic, there are consequences for that and a strategy for fixing it."

At the end of September, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) released information suggesting there have been at least five plots to assassinate Trump, including the scheme planned by Iran through Pakistani national Asif Merchant, who was arrested the day before Thomas Crooks shot at the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Rep. Gaetz agreed to a classified briefing of these supposed threats.