FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that there was “some question” about whether former President Donald Trump was actually injured by a bullet during an assassination attempt on his life.
Speaking before lawmakers Wednesday, Wray gave details about the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life at a Pennsylvania rally, bringing up questions about whether Trump’s right ear was struck by a bullet or shrapnel.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan asked the FBI director about whether all of the bullets had been accounted for that were fired by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks before a Secret Service sniper shot him dead.
“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray replied.
(Video Credit: ABC 8)
“It’s conceivable, although as I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else,” he added. “But I believe we’ve accounted for all the shots in the cartridges.”
Earlier, Wray told Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), “My understanding is that either it [a bullet] or some shrapnel is what grazed his ear.”
Hours after the harrowing event which left two rally-goers critically injured and one local retired firefighter dead, Trump shared a message on Truth Social.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” his post read. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
During his speech later that week at the Republican National Convention, Trump shared a personal account of what he experienced.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear. I said to myself, ‘Wow what was that? It can only be a bullet,’ ” the former president, wearing a large bandage over his ear, recounted. “I moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, my hand was covered with blood. Just absolutely blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement proceeded to drop to the ground.”
In his testimony before Congress, Wray spoke about other details investigators have found concerning the gunman who had reportedly flown a drone over the area just two hours before the rally.
FBI director offers details on Trump shooter’s remote detonation devices, says drone recovered https://t.co/2h29oRS56K via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) July 24, 2024
Crooks also reportedly made several online searches before the shooting, including information about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“That’s a search obviously that is significant in terms of his state of mind. That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally,” Wray noted.
“We do not know the motive. That is obviously one of the central questions in our investigation, and it’s been very frustrating to us that a lot of the usual kind of low-hanging-fruit places that we would find that have not yielded significant clues about his motive,” he told lawmakers.
Wray’s testimony followed the dramatic grilling of now-former Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle before the House Oversight Committee on Monday. She subsequently resigned as the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing Tuesday. Cheatle did not make an appearance at that hearing and neither did her boss, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“I have been saying for some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment,” Wray said in his opening statement Wednesday. “The shooter may be deceased but the FBI’s investigation is ongoing.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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