New questions are emerging about how much investigators knew about Thomas Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a July 13, 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The attack shook U.S. politics, leaving one audience member and a firefighter dead. Trump, then the GOP’s presumptive nominee, was wounded in the ear. The FBI initially claimed Crooks was largely unknown to them beforehand, but recent information suggests otherwise.
Rep. Pat Fallon, who chaired the congressional task force reviewing the attack, says key details were withheld. “We definitely got stonewalled,” he told The National News Desk, adding that later answers also appear incomplete. The task force ultimately concluded the attack was preventable.
Former FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate previously disclosed that investigators had found over 700 online posts from Crooks between 2019 and 2020, many antisemitic or anti-immigrant. Fallon says the task force never received this information and is considering recalling Abbate to testify.
Commentator Tucker Carlson has also accused officials of hiding what they knew, pointing to Crooks’ online activity. FBI Director Kash Patel defended the investigation, citing extensive interviews, digital searches, and data collection.
Former FBI Special Agent in Charge Jody Weis, however, argues the bureau should have identified Crooks as a threat before the shooting. “For them to say we just didn’t see much there—I can’t understand why,” he said.