Trump agrees to victim interview as FBI searches for shooter’s motive
TOPSHOT – Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump touches his injured ear during a sound check on the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump will participate in an FBI victim interview about his attempted assassination at a campaign rally, the agency told reporters Monday.
The interview with Trump “will be consistent with any other victim interview that we do,” an FBI official said in a press call.
The official said the agency wants Trump’s “perspective” on the July 13 incident, when a shooter with an AR-15-style rifle fired eight rounds while the Republican presidential nominee was on stage at the rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The FBI said it was unable to offer any additional details about the shooter’s motive, despite conducting hundreds of interviews, sending data requests to dozens of companies and reviewing thousands of tips in the 16 days since the attack.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with what appears to be blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Republican candidate Donald Trump was evacuated from the stage at today’s rally after what sounded like shots rang out at the event in Pennsylvania, according to AFP. The former US president was seen with blood on his right ear as he was surrounded by security agents, who hustled him off the stage as he pumped his first to the crowd. Trump was bundled into an SUV and driven away.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An agency official in Monday’s call described the would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a “loner” with few social interactions outside of his immediate family.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
On Monday afternoon, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced the 13 members of a bipartisan panel tasked with investigating the assassination attempt.
The task force of seven Republicans and six Democrats will be led by chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Colo. The others are Reps. Mark Green, R-Tenn., David Joyce, R-Ohio, Laurel Lee, R-Fla., Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Clay Higgins, R-La., Pat Fallon, R-Texas, Lou Correa, D-Calif., Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Glenn Ivey, D-Md., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
Crooks, who was shot dead by the U.S. Secret Service seconds after he opened fire, killed rallygoer Corey Comperatore and injured two others.
Trump also sustained a minor injury to his right ear in the attack. Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said in the press call that Trump was “struck by a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces,” fired by…
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