Attorney General Todd Blanche says the FBI has uncovered new information about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to assassinate President Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

But Blanche stopped short of saying the new material proves President Trump’s separate claim that the attack was part of a Democratic plot.

During a White House press briefing Tuesday, Blanche said the FBI had produced information for the Senate concerning Crooks’ background and history that investigators did not previously know.

Blanche did not identify the new material during the briefing or say whether it changed the government’s previous assessment of Crooks’ actions. He instead described it broadly as information about the shooter’s background and history that had been sent to the Senate.

The first reports from the briefing also noted that prior investigations concluded Crooks acted alone and had not produced evidence linking Democrats to the attack.

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The announcement was summarized shortly after Blanche spoke:

The remarks came hours after President Trump alleged that records from the Butler investigation were missing, altered or corrupted when he returned to office. He also accused former FBI Director Christopher Wray of mishandling the case and said Wray should “pay a price.”

President Trump did not release documents supporting those allegations in the statement. A commentary account that republishes his Truth Social posts captured the claim:

Asked about the president’s statement, Blanche said it was “not really clear” what FBI leadership was doing in the weeks and months before the shooting to protect President Trump.

The attorney general also said current FBI Director Kash Patel has undertaken an extensive review of the records to determine whether anything was missed and to bring additional information forward.

ABC News reported that Blanche did not offer evidence supporting the alleged plot when a reporter asked him to explain the president’s statement. Blanche instead pointed to newly identified information that the FBI produced in response to a Senate inquiry.

The report says Blanche characterized the material as information about Crooks’ background and history, without disclosing the documents or explaining how they bear on the attack. It also notes that FBI Director Kash Patel told senators investigators had found no evidence Crooks was communicating with anyone other than his parents.

That leaves two separate questions in the public record: what the newly produced records reveal about Crooks, and whether any evidence supports the much broader allegation of a partisan plot. Blanche addressed the first but did not substantiate the second.

The newest reported details concern Crooks’ personal history and purchases.

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Fox News reported that federal records show Crooks used the alias “Bob Dole” while ordering packages, including gun parts, and that an anonymous donor paid for his cremation.

The report says Crooks’ father told investigators his son collected packages addressed to the alias before the father returned from work. According to the records, the name was adopted after fraudulent gambling charges appeared on the father’s bank account.

Interviews also described Crooks as socially isolated and increasingly prone to talking to himself, although his father said he had not observed other signs of a potential mental illness.

The records add detail to Crooks’ personal history and purchasing habits, but his motive remains unresolved. They also do not identify a political sponsor, operational partner or person with advance knowledge of the shooting.

The reported records include these details:

The details raise additional questions about Crooks and the investigation, but the cited records do not by themselves establish that he had a political sponsor or co-conspirator.

The bipartisan House task force later concluded that the Butler shooting was preventable. Its final report documented failures in advance planning, execution and leadership by the Secret Service and its law-enforcement partners.

The task force found that authorities failed to secure the nearby American Glass Research building complex, did not sufficiently monitor the area and did not clearly assign responsibility for it. Those failures allowed Crooks to reach the roof and fire eight shots toward the rally stage.

The report also criticized the Justice Department and FBI for limited cooperation with congressional investigators, including restrictions on access to requested records and witnesses. That finding supports calls for greater transparency, but the task force did not conclude that a political party directed Crooks or that the attack was part of a Democratic plot.

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The FBI said in an August 2024 briefing that it had not identified a definitive motive or credible evidence of a co-conspirator. The bureau also distinguished its investigation of the shooter from the protective-security responsibilities assigned to the Secret Service and local law enforcement.

The unanswered issue is what the newly produced FBI records add to the public account — and whether the Justice Department or Senate will release enough of them for independent scrutiny.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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