Republican Rep. Mike Kelly said he warned Donald Trump’s presidential campaign about a “very dangerous” rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an assassination attempt on the former president took place on July 13.

Kelly, a staunch Trump ally who represents Pennsylvania’s 16th congressional district, told the nonprofit publication NOTUS that he warned the campaign’s vanguard that the Butler Farm Show site would be a “disaster” as a rally site.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, suffered an ear injury when a gunman opened fire during the rally, killing one person and wounding two others before the Secret Service shot and killed the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Kelly said the Trump campaign was not listening to him about the venue in his home district.

“I made a statement (to the campaign) when they first told me this: ‘You can’t do that there. It’s too small.’ The point was that they had already made a decision, but it’s not the right place. The response was, ‘Well, we already made a decision.’ I said, ‘Well, then who visited the site?’ And the response was, ‘Mr. Representative, we told you we already made a decision,'” Kelly told NOTUS reporter Katherine Swartz in an article published Tuesday morning.

“This answer told me that no one had been here.”

“I told them, ‘You made the wrong decision. This is going to be very dangerous.’ And they said, ‘Well, we already made the decision.’ From that point on, I was concerned,” said Kelly, who heads the House task force charged with investigating the assassination.

When NOTUS asked what Kelly meant by “very dangerous,” a spokesman for the congressman told the publication that they “cannot comment specifically on that choice of words.”

However, the spokesperson confirmed that Kelly’s concerns were primarily related to the small size of the venue and traffic, as there was only one lane leading in and out of the Butler Farm Show grounds due to construction.

“The size of the venue, traffic and parking have nothing to do with the assassination of President Trump, and any suggestion that the campaign had information that could have prevented the President’s assassination is appalling and categorically false,” a Trump campaign official told NOTUS.

Newsweek has emailed Kelly and Trump’s campaign team for comment.

The House task force, led by Kelly, is made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats and was created after the July 13 shooting to investigate what went wrong and propose solutions to prevent such an attack from happening again.

Kelly told NOTUS that the investigation revolves around a question for local and state law enforcement, as well as federal authorities: “Why did you allow President Trump to step onto that platform knowing something was wrong?”

Kelly said he has spoken to Trump by phone since taking office as chairman.

“He said, ‘Mike, I’m coming back to Butler, and I’m coming out in the open.’ I said, ‘Mr. President, I’m glad you’re coming back to Butler, but let’s be really careful, OK?’ He said, ‘No, I’m coming back. I have a duty to come back,'” Kelly told NOTUS.

In a commentary following Trump’s assassination attempt on NewsweekIn a statement describing the task force, Kelly wrote: “I have lived in Butler almost all my life. I went to school here. My family farm is here. My wife and I raised our family here. Years ago, I played American Legion baseball in the fields behind Butler Farm Show, the 100-plus acre property in a rural part of town where the Trump rally was held.

He continued, “I have visited the Farm Show many times. Since 1948, this has been a place where families and children come together to celebrate our region’s rich agricultural and farming traditions. It is a popular gathering place for food and fun in the Butler community throughout the summer.”

In Butler, lawmakers expressed dismay on Monday that the Secret Service had left Trump unprotected against several potential targets.

“I definitely noted today that there were many sight lines that were apparently unsecured that day, that were not monitored or that were not secured,” Democratic Representative Jason Crow said, according to The New York Times.

The Secret Service has acknowledged security lapses, and last month Kimberly Cheatle resigned as director amid growing calls for her resignation.

Since then, at least five Secret Service agents have been placed on leave, including the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office responsible for security planning ahead of the July 13 rally, the Associated Press reported.

Louisiana Republican Rep. Clay Higgins paid a three-day visit to Butler earlier this month and accused the FBI of obstructing investigative efforts in a preliminary investigative report.

In the report, Higgins said the FBI released Crooks’ body to his family for cremation before it could be examined, saying this “could only be described by any reasonable person as an obstruction of any further investigative efforts.”

An FBI spokesman said Higgins’ allegation was “inaccurate and without merit” and that Crooks’ body was released “according to standard procedures” in coordination with the medical examiner’s office and local and state law enforcement.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Republican Reps. Cory Mills, Bob Good, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs and Chip Roy spoke with Dan Bongino, a right-wing talk show host and former Secret Service agent, as part of an independent investigation into the Trump assassination. The group, which distrusts the House task force, recorded a live, panel-style podcast that aired on social media. Panelists also included Ben Shaffer, a SWAT officer for Washington who had been working in Butler on the day of the assassination.

Kelly told NOTUS that some of his colleagues are just looking for “those 15 minutes of fame.”

“For me, this is not a fireworks moment,” Kelly told the publication. “I don’t need to rush to someone’s house the day after something terrible happens and make some kind of proclamation or stand on the steps of the Capitol. I really don’t need that.”

He continued: “Ultimately, I have to put together a task force that will actually be successful and provide answers to the American people.”

Update: 8/27/24 1:30 PM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

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