FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to testify Wednesday about the bureau’s investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, with lawmakers at a congressional hearing likely to press him for fresh details about the gunman’s motive and background.
FBI director reveals new details
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee will represent Wray’s most detailed comments to date about a shooting that has again thrust the FBI into the political maelstrom as agents continue to investigate the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
The hearing had been scheduled well before the June 13 shooting as part of the committee’s routine oversight of the FBI and Justice Department, and though lawmakers may touch on a broad array of topics, questions about the shooting are expected to dominate the session. Despite being appointed by Trump, Wray typically faces antagonistic questions from the Republican-led panel, a reflection of lingering discontent over the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 campaign.
Though the FBI has avoided the same level of scrutiny directed at the Secret Service over security lapses that preceded the shooting, culminating Tuesday in the resignation of Director Kimberly Cheatle, Wray is likely to be questioned by lawmakers sceptical of the bureau’s assessment that Crooks left behind no obvious ideological motive that could explain his actions.
The FBI has said that it is investigating the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting, which killed one rallygoer and seriously injured two others, as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination. Wray and other senior officials privately briefed members of Congress last week, telling them that Crooks had photos on his phone of Trump and President Joe Biden and other officials, and had also looked up the dates for the Democratic National Convention as well as Trump’s appearances.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press last week that Crooks had also flown a drove above the rally site before the event in an apparent effort to scope out the scene in advance. The gunman who tried to fatally shoot former President Donald Trump may have had a firearm with a collapsible stock, making it easier for him to carry and conceal his weapon, and had researched John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified Wednesday. On July 6, Thomas Crooks, 20, searched “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” referring to the 1963 presidential assassination, FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
The collapsible stock, Wray said, would explain why witnesses did not see Crooks walking around with a weapon beforehand and why the firearm was not spotted until Crooks was already on the roof. The new details reveal how Crooks was able to evade law enforcement. Authorities recovered the drone in Crooks’ vehicle, where they also found a drone controller and two explosive devices that had the ability to be remotely detonated, Wray said.
Crooks had a transmitter on him, the director said, adding that it appears the remote detonation “would not have worked. “Wray said Crooks had purchased a ladder that was about 5-ft. tall, according to a bloodied receipt that Crooks had on him, but that the ladder was not found at the scene. The FBI director said it is unclear how Crooks got on the roof. Lawmakers have demanded answers to key questions surrounding the shooting that they say remain unanswered, particularly by former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned Tuesday after apparently failing to fully cooperate with the House Oversight Committee the day before.
Stay connected with Fact and US for more such news.