President Donald Trump shocked the world Tuesday with a post claiming the assassination attempt in Butler, Penn., in July 2024 was "was all a Democrat plot, to get me out of the election."
His full post says this: "“Everybody knows the Crooked Joe Biden FBI didn’t do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA. By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone."
The president continued, writing, “New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago? This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed. Dirty Cop Christopher Wray should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt, and certainly for the things he said.”
Media outlets have reached out to the White House for response, and so far there hasn't been one, but they're noting there is no evidence that Democrats were involved in the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024. This was one of several attempts on Trump's life, but also the one that came closest. A quick turn of his head to display a chart about migrants was the difference between a head shot and a graze of his ear.
A U.S. Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks shortly after he began firing and the FBI took over the investigation.
"After a extensive investigation, the FBI concluded last year that gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks acted alone," The Independent wrote. Many others also note his motive is mostly unknown.
Per Yahoo News, "According to the bureau, 485 employees worked on the case, conducting more than 1,000 interviews, reviewing 2,000 tips and executing more than 10 search warrants and 100 subpoenas. Investigators examined 13 electronic devices connected to Crooks and his family, along with 35 online accounts, including social media, banking and email accounts. The FBI said it accessed all of Crooks' accounts, including email accounts based in Germany and Belgium, and manually reviewed more than 500,000 electronic files."
Trump's rant comes as information was released about an anonymous donor paying for the cremation of Thomas Crooks, the would-be assassin, was included in documents provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley as part of his inquiry into the assassination attempt.
Rep. Clay Higgins revealed that Thomas Crooks' body was turned over to the family for cremation less than two weeks afterward. Higgins said he was disturbed by the quick release.
Higgins began the newest inquiry into Butler by writing a letter to the bipartisan congressional task force investigating security failures around the shooting, expressing his concern about the burial that, in his mind, was too fast.
Others note the family of Thomas Crooks, particularly his father Matthew, seemed to have financial difficulties and probably needed help to get their son in the ground. Matthew was unemployed at the time of the shooting, and his wife was on leave from work, suggesting they couldn't afford funeral arrangements.
