The panel sent five letters to local law enforcement and local officials seeking access to all documents and communications related to the rally, including those involved with the planning and preparation, post-events, and correspondence. The task force is requesting the interviews be completed by the end of the month, although it’s not entirely clear how many officials are being asked to appear before the panel. 

The letters were sent to the Butler Township Police Department, the Butler County Sheriff’s Department, and the Butler and Beaver counties emergency services units. 

Requests were also sent to the coroners of Butler County and Allegheny County seeking access to the coroner’s report and autopsy of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who climbed a roof near the rally site and shot Trump in the ear during his speech to supporters.  

The letters come a week after the task force visited the rally site on Aug. 26 and made an extensive records request to the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. Those letters requested access to documents detailing the preparation and security decision-making in the hours leading up to the rally and agents’ responses once the shooting began. Lawmakers are also pushing for interviews with several Secret Service personnel who were on duty and responsible for the security detail that day.

The security failures at the rally have prompted widespread scrutiny of the Secret Service by lawmakers from both parties and led House leaders to create a joint task force to investigate the assassination attempt. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) approved the task force last month and established it as the primary investigative body after a handful of House committees opened separate inquiries into the matter.

The panel began in earnest earlier this month after it sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. requesting documents and briefings from the agencies regarding the shooting. 

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The task force investigation is expected to conclude and produce a final report by Dec. 13, although lawmakers will release interim reports along the way, Johnson said.

The request comes as a group of House Republicans opened a parallel investigation into the matter despite lacking the subpoena authority granted to the task force. The second group, dubbed the J13 Forum, is also expected to hold hearings over the coming months, although it’s unclear when the group may produce its findings or a final report.