Shooter's attempt on Trump in Butler

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire on Donald Trump at a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet grazed Trump's ear and a rally attendee was killed shielding his family.

GOP lawmakers kept in the dark

Republican investigators say federal agencies refused to share information during their probe. Rep. Mike Kelly, who chaired a bipartisan House task force, said the FBI told them they'd investigate separately and never followed up.

“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.”

Task force report relied on local info

The House task force's December 2024 report was built almost entirely from local law enforcement, with minimal federal input. Kelly said they had limited time and access to get the full picture.

“It's awfully strange that all the questions we asked, 'We'll have to get back to you on that.'”

Father searched to block gun access

New FBI documents show Crooks' father searched for ways to prevent his son from accessing firearms in May 2024, two months before the shooting. House lawmakers were not informed of this discovery during their investigation.

Father handed son the rifle

According to sources, Matthew Crooks handed his son Thomas the rifle used in the assassination attempt on July 13, 2024. The task force report corroborates this detail.

Senate Judiciary demands full accounting

Senator Josh Hawley says the new documents prove the need for complete transparency about what happened that day. He argues there were massive law enforcement failures and coordination gaps that remain unexplained.

“I think we have got to have a full accounting of everything that happened on that day, all of the failures.”

Rooftop access raises security questions

Hawley visited the Butler site and said he could easily have accessed the rooftop where Crooks fired from. He charges there was no coordination among local and federal law enforcement agencies present that day.

“How did this guy ever get onto that roof?”

Whistleblowers filled information gaps

Hawley says most of what the public knows about the shooting comes from whistleblowers, not official investigations. He warns that without full transparency, similar attacks could happen again.

“Pretty much everything we know about this is from whistleblowers.”