The FBI released new information Wednesday on its investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, defending its handling of the crime scene and contradicting some information lawmakers have reported in recent weeks.
More than six weeks after the July 13 shooting at Mr. Trump’s campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, the FBI has yet to identify a motive for the deceased shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as its criminal investigation remains ongoing.
The FBI said its investigation has found that Crooks conducted dozens of online searches about campaign events for Mr. Trump and President Biden, as well as the dates of the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
But the FBI also sought to tamp down on false narratives, as it disputed lawmakers’ reports about the FBI improperly releasing the crime scene and Crooks’ body, among other assertions about the operability of Crooks’ firearm and his use of encrypted email accounts.
Rep. Mike Waltz, Florida Republican and member of the bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempt, recently speculated that Crooks may not have acted alone, citing his use of encrypted messaging accounts on platforms based in Germany, Belgium, and New Zealand as reason for suspicion.
“You can’t tell us his motive, but you could tell us he operated alone? You can’t get into these encrypted overseas accounts, but you can tell us he acted alone? So, I don’t buy that yet,” Mr. Waltz told DailyMail.com last week.
“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?” he said. “That’s a question I’ve had since Day One.”
The FBI said in its update to the media on Wednesday that it has not uncovered any credible evidence indicating Crooks conspired with anyone else. Officials leading the investigation downplayed the significance of Crooks’ overseas encrypted email accounts.
“The level of encryption was no more sophisticated than any standard, widely used, internet-based email service,” said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office. “We successfully accessed the information from these accounts and appropriately analyzed their content. However, we continue to identify and exploit the subject’s accounts.”
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Waltz’s office for comment.
Two weeks ago, another member of the House task force, Rep. Clay Higgins, Louisiana Republican, released a preliminary report on his own behalf that accused the FBI of improperly releasing first responders on July 13 and the crime scene three days later.
Mr. Higgins visited Butler County Aug. 4-6 to conduct investigatory work, which he shared with the task force in a preliminary report dated Aug. 12.
“The FBI released all first responders that evening, much to everyone’s surprise,” Mr. Higgins said, citing his interviews with local law enforcement and emergency medical service responders.
Those first responders “expressed everything from surprise to dismay to suspicion” regarding the FBI’s release of the crime scene just three days after the shooting, he said.
“The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which is unheard of. Cops don’t do that, ever,” said Mr. Higgins, a former law enforcement officer.
The FBI said Wednesday that it conducted a rolling release of the Butler Farm Show grounds, as well as the adjacent AGR International Inc. complex where Crooks accessed the roof from which he fired at Mr. Trump, after thoroughly processing each location.
“Prior to releasing each site, we followed all appropriate evidence-gathering procedures and completed the final release of the scene seven days after the attack,” Mr. Rojek said.
He said the FBI did clean biological material from the AGR roof where Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper, but only after collecting all relevant evidence, following standard bureau procedures.
Mr. Rojek did not dispute that the FBI released first responders from the scene on July 13.
“We had no reason or intention to hold or detain any first responder, as the law enforcement community assembled in Butler was actively responding to public safety risks and assisting with investigative activity throughout the night,” he said, noting the priorities of both federal and local law enforcement “were to secure the scene, preserve evidence, and ensure public safety.”
Mr. Higgins in his report also raised questions about the release of Crooks’ remains, saying his effort to examine his body on Aug. 5 “caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact” that the FBI released the body for cremation on July 23.
“Nobody knew this until Monday, Aug. 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc,” he said. “Yes, Butler County Coroner technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI.”
The FBI said that is false, and that all relevant parties were involved in the decision to release Crooks’ body to his family.
“It is not standard procedure or practice for the FBI or any law enforcement agency to request that the coroner or medical examiner maintain indefinite custody of a deceased subject’s body once the investigative purposes of our agency and our partner agencies are completed,” Mr. Rojek said.
According to his account, the Butler County coroner removed the body from the scene and conducted a death investigation but deferred to the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner to conduct the autopsy.
“Once Allegheny County completed the autopsy, the Butler County Coroner’s Office consulted with the FBI asking if there were any additional necessary investigative steps with respect to the body,” Mr. Rojek said. “The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police then concurred with the Butler County Coroner’s Office decision to release the remains to the subject’s family.”
The FBI has received the autopsy and toxicology reports, the latter of which came back negative for signs of drug or alcohol abuse.
The autopsy says Crooks was pronounced deceased at 6:25 p.m. on July 13 as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head.
“All reviewable evidence collected from the AGR roof and from the subject’s body are consistent with the round fired by the Secret Service sniper,” Mr. Rojek said.
Mr. Higgins said in his report that a “total badass” Butler SWAT officer took a shot from the ground and hit Crooks’ “rifle stock and fragged his face/neck/right shoulder area from the stock breaking up.”
“He stopped Crooks and importantly, I believe the shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ AR,” Mr. Higgins said, noting he wasn’t certain but was “99% sure,” based on eyewitness reports. “This means that if his AR buffer tube was damaged, Crooks’ rifle wouldn’t fire after his 8th shot.”
But Mr. Rojek said the FBI’s laboratory division test fired Crooks’ rifle and found it was and remains fully operational.
The Times reached out to Mr. Higgins’ office for comment.
While the FBI has yet to identify Crooks’ motive for shooting Mr. Trump, Mr. Rojek said analysis of his online searches conducted between 2019 and 2024 has provided insight into his mindset.
Crooks searched Mr. Trump’s campaign schedule for appearances in Pennsylvania as far back as late September 2023.
The FBI found additional searches from April to July of this year for events being held by Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, who at the time was running for a second term. Crooks conducted more than 60 searches related to both presidential candidates in the month leading up to his July 13 attack on Mr. Trump.
“Of particular note, our investigation identified specific searches conducted on July 5 to include ‘when is the DNC convention’ and ‘when is the RNC in 2024,’” Mr. Rojek said.
But Crooks’ planning started long before the current presidential campaign season, as he started researching how to make explosive devices five years ago.
In searches that extend as far back as September 2019 and continued through this summer, Crooks searched for terms related to explosive devices, including “detonating chord,” “blasting cap,” “how to make a bomb from fertilizer” and “how do remote detonators work.”
Crooks also searched for ammonium nitrate, nitromethane and other materials consistent with the manufacturing of explosive devices, Mr. Rojek said. The FBI found improvised explosive devices in Crooks’ vehicle and bedroom made from components that “were legal to purchase and readily available online,” he said.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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