Former President Donald Trump asserted Tuesday that the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, was a "Democratic Plot" to remove him from the election, a claim for which he provided no evidence. Trump also criticized the FBI's handling of the investigation, stating that former FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump nominated during his first term, "should pay a price."
Trump's comments followed testimony from current FBI Director Kash Patel, who stated that the agency had found no connections between the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and any other individuals. "We found no evidence that that individual was literally even speaking to any other human being other than his parents, who he resided with," Patel testified during a Senate Oversight Committee hearing.
Trump alleged that much of the information regarding the investigation was missing when he took office but that new documents had recently been discovered. "Why wasn't it seen long ago?" Trump questioned in his statement. He characterized the attempt as a failed plot by Democrats and criticized Wray for how the assassination attempt was handled and for his statements about it.
Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet from Crooks' rifle as the suspect fired from the roof of a nearby building during a campaign rally. The incident resulted in one fatality and two injuries.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, responding to Trump's claims, stated that the "new information" Trump alluded to was produced by the FBI in response to a Senate inquiry. Blanche described it as "new information about the shooter and about his background, about his history and that's stuff that we didn't know before." When asked if the Department of Justice would "punish" anyone, as Trump suggested Wray should "pay a price," Blanche replied, "The Department of Justice doesn't punish."
Blanche acknowledged Trump's frustration, stating, "I was there with him. I lived it. I mean, you have a situation where, where it's not really clear what the leadership of the FBI were doing in the weeks and months ahead of the attempted assassination to protect President Trump." He added that the same organization was "simultaneously trying to put him in prison till he dies."
Reports from Fox News and The New York Post indicated that federal documents related to the assassination attempt, which they had reviewed, purportedly show that Crooks used the alias "Bob Dole" to order suspicious packages. These reports also stated that Crooks' body was cremated, with services reportedly paid for by an anonymous donor, but did not present evidence of a conspiracy behind the shooting. ABC News has not independently verified these documents.