Rep. Laurel Lee appointed to task force investigating attempted assassination of Trump

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has appointed Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Brandon, to the Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump.

The task force holds the full investigative authority of the House of Representatives, including subpoena authority, Lee’s office said in a news release. It will assume control and jurisdiction over all pending House committee investigations regarding the Trump assassination attempt on July 13 in Pennsylvania.

The panel will seek to understand what went wrong, to ensure accountability and to prevent such an agency failure from ever happening again, the release said. The Secret Service has received harsh criticism for allowing a man to scale a building within shooting range of the former president. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned last week.

Lee's district covers northwest Polk County, including part of Lakeland. The task force includes seven Republicans and six Democrats. The other two Florida members are Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Palm Coast, and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fort Lauderdale.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Rep. Laurel Lee joins House panel investigating Trump shooting