Republican Lawmakers Respond to New Information on Trump Assassination Attempt

<p>Republican lawmakers were informed this week about new documents regarding Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump and was subsequently shot dead. Crooks opened fire on Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, where a bullet grazed Trump's ear, and a rally attendee was killed while trying to shield his family.</p><p>Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who chaired a bipartisan House task force investigating the shooting, stated, "During our piece that we were working on, none of the federal agencies were working with us at all. They were going to work on their own, and they told us, ‘We're going to do ours, and then we'll get back to you.’ So this is two years later. Nobody's gotten back to us." He noted that the task force's report, released on December 10, 2024, was primarily based on input from local authorities, with limited contributions from federal agencies.</p><p>Fox News Digital reviewed the documents and found that Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, had searched for ways to prevent his son from accessing firearms in May 2024, approximately two months before the assassination attempt. A source familiar with the task force’s work indicated that this search was not known to House lawmakers during their investigation.</p><p>The task force report corroborated that Matthew Crooks provided Thomas Crooks with the rifle used in the assassination attempt on July 13, 2024. Kelly’s office was reportedly unaware of any federal authorities interviewing Crooks’ family.</p><p>The records were obtained by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as part of his ongoing inquiry into the Butler assassination attempt. The documents revealed that Thomas Crooks' actions were unexpected to his family, and his motive remains unclear.</p><p>Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed that they had yet to see the FBI documents but emphasized the need for full disclosure regarding the events of that day. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a member of the panel, stated that the release of documents was overdue, but much remained unknown about the incident.</p><p>Hawley called for a comprehensive accounting of the events, highlighting law enforcement failures. He mentioned that he had visited the site shortly after the attempt and criticized the lack of coordination among local and federal law enforcement agencies present that day. He warned that without a thorough investigation, similar incidents could occur in the future.</p>