The 20-year-old man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, used encrypted messaging accounts on platforms in multiple foreign countries, according to Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL).

Waltz, who is on the Congressional task force investigating the assassination attempt, told reporters in Chicago on Wednesday that it has not “learned that much” about Thomas Matthew Crooks’ encrypted messaging accounts, but he did reveal that they discovered the accounts were based on platforms in Belgium, Germany, and New Zealand, which the congressman described as strange, The New York Post reported. Encrypted messaging apps allow for text messages to be sent through an encrypted code that can only be deciphered by the recipient’s device.

“Why does a 19-year-old kid who is a health care aide need encrypted platforms not even based in the United States, but based abroad, where most terrorist organizations know it is harder for our law enforcement to get into? That’s a question I’ve had since day one,” Waltz told reporters at the Trump Hotel in downtown Chicago.

Waltz, a retired Green Beret, then ripped the FBI and Secret Service for not releasing more information from the investigations into the attempted assassination.

Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.

“They need to be releasing information as they come across it because this wasn’t an isolated incident,” he said. “The threats are continually Iran’s threats.”

Before the assassination attempt, U.S. authorities were informed by a source that there was an Iranian plot to kill Trump, CNN reported. The Biden administration reportedly told the Trump campaign and Secret Service of the alleged plot, but the troubling intelligence info raised new concerns about the security breakdown at Trump’s rally. Iran “strongly” rejected it had any role in the Trump assassination attempt, adding that it “is determined to pursue legal action against Trump for his direct role in the crime of assassinating Martyr General Qassem Soleimani.”

Trump responded to Iran’s alleged plot to assassinate him, writing on Truth Social, “If they do ‘assassinate President Trump,’ which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth — If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered ‘gutless’ cowards!”

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI

Late last month, the House revealed its 13-member task force appointed to investigate the Trump assassination attempt. It is made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats. The House and Senate have also grilled leaders of the Secret Service and the FBI over security failures at the July 13 Trump rally.

Crooks accessed a roof just 130 yards from where Trump stood on stage. The would-be assassin fired eight shots, one of which struck Trump in his right ear. Another bullet hit and killed Trump supporter and firefighter Corey Comperatore. Two other rallygoers, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were also struck by the gunfire and injured.

Target CEO Brian Cornell slammed claims by Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday that retailers were hurting consumers by engaging in price gouging.

Harris said last week that her plan to combat inflation that skyrocketed during the Biden-Harris administration was to implement price controls, which most economists oppose.

Cornell was asked during an interview on CNBC: “Have you boosted any of your profits from gouging on prices? And how prevalent and pervasive do you think that was in terms of causing the recent 40-year highs in inflation?

Cornell responded by noting that the retail giant has reduced prices on roughly 5,000 items.

Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.

“I’ll put my retail hat on for a second,” he said. “You two talk to industry leaders in every different sector. Is there a more competitive space than retail?”

“We’re celebrating this morning, the fact that we delivered a margin rate of over 6%,” he said. “You talk to other CEOs who are delivering up income of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%,” he continued. “So we’re in a penny business.”

“It is a penny business, and it’s a very competitive space, and we provide the value consumers are looking for,” he added.

He also said that raising corporate taxes, which Harris supports, would hurt businesses.

“When the taxes were reduced, we put our capital to work,” he said. “Since 2017 when the corporate taxes were reduced, we spent close to $50 billion of capital building new stores across the country, remodeling over 1,000 stores.”

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI

“We put the business dollars back into our business,” he continued. “It’s helped us grow since 2017 our top line almost $40 billion, and I think it’s the way America should work.”

WATCH:

Target CEO Brian Cornell rips Kamala Harris’ claim that retailers are “price-gouging”:

“We’re in a penny business. It’s a very competitive space.” pic.twitter.com/BsmZnL8TDI

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 22, 2024