FBI’s releases update about Trump shooter’s motive, lawmaker issues fiery response

BUTLER, Pa. — The FBI conducted 200 interviews and combed through 14,000 images but said they still don’t have a clear motive behind the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally Saturday in western Pennsylvania.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who’s on the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital that he thinks it’s “bulls—” that federal investigators don’t have a motive yet. 

“I’m not buying that they have nothing,” Burchett said Wednesday. “I don’t have faith in this administration. If they (the Secret Service) don’t want conspiracy theories, they have to move quickly and answer tough questions.”

Burchett said they subpoenaed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who agreed to comply, according to the Oversight Committee’s post on X. A hearing is scheduled for July 22. 

FOLLOW LIVE UP-TO-MINUTE DETAILS OF ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION

“Americans demand and deserve answers from Director Cheatle about the attempted assassination of President Trump and the Secret Service’s egregious failures,” the Oversight Committee said in its X post shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday. 

Attached to the post was the full subpoena. 

Wray told Congress that Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, used his cellphone to search for images of President Biden and Trump as well as symptoms of depressive disorder before the shooting, according to CBS News. 

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Crooks also visited the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, at least one time before Saturday’s shooting, CBS reported. 

The FBI declined to comment on potential motive theories or if they’ve crossed any motives off their list or respond to lawmakers’ comments. 

A 50-year-old father of two, former fire chief Corey Comperatore, was killed while shielding his wife and daughters during Saturday’s shooting.

David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously wounded and are now recovering in an area hospital. 

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Secret Service snipers “neutralized” Crooks, who set up on a roof overlooking the rally less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking.

How Crooks entered the building and fired off multiple shots remains under investigation and has led to finger-pointing between the Secret Service and local police.

A search by Fox News Digital revealed that Crooks would have turned 21 years old in September. He had no reported criminal record or traffic citations.

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Crooks was a registered Republican, according to voting records, but he only participated in the Nov. 8, 2022, state election due to his age.

Trump gunman gave chilling excuse to boss about why he needed the day off work

Former President Trump’s would-be assassin would have been at work on Saturday, but told his boss that he needed the day off because he had “something to do,” according to reports.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents after firing five rounds, grazing Trump’s ear, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and injuring two others at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

But law enforcement sources told CNN that the 20-year-old told his boss that he would be back at work on Sunday. 

Crooks listed himself as unemployed in 2020, but he worked most recently as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a state-licensed transitional facility.

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The center’s administrator, Marcie Grimm, said in a Sunday statement that Crooks “performed his job without concern” and his background check was clean.

Crooks’ “newer model” phone and a gray 12-button remote transmitter were recovered from beside his body after he was shot, according to photos obtained by WPXI.

The transmitter is believed to have been connected to an explosive device in Crooks’ car – investigators suggested in an interview with the New York Post that he may have planned to stage a distraction during the shooting. 

Although they have gained access to his phone and laptop, investigators have yet to determine a possible motive for Crooks’ assassination attempt. But they are beginning to piece together a clearer picture of his actions leading up to the shooting that day.

Roughly three hours before the shooting, Crooks aroused suspicion when he passed through magnetometers at the rally’s security screening area with a range-finder, which looks like a small pair of binoculars and is used by target shooters and hunters to measure distances when setting up a long-range shot. 

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A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that a local officer saw a suspicious man carrying a range-finder “in or just-outside” the venue before Trump took the stage.

That sighting was shared with state police, according to the source, and there was a discussion about whether the man was carrying a pair of binoculars to try to see the rally better.

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Crooks was able to gain access to the building’s roof by climbing on top of an air conditioning unit, ABC News reported.

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Mark Cuban swipes Elon Musk, other business figures for endorsing Trump

Mark Cuban on Wednesday slammed fellow billionaire Elon Musk and other business figures who have recently signaled support for former President Trump’s campaign in a social media post.

The latest flare up between the two billionaires came after Musk ally David Sacks posted a list on X of business leaders who’ve expressed support for Trump’s campaign — including Musk, Bill Ackman, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Doug Leone, Joe Lonsdale, Peter Thiel, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss among others — with the message, “Come on in, the water’s warm.”

Musk quoted Sacks’ post saying, “The choice is clear” — which led Cuban to reply with a quote tweet of his own that read simply, “The Virtue of Selfishness.” 

Mark Cuban is a longtime critic of former President Trump and said this spring that he wasn’t worried about President Biden’s age — although he has recently expressed an openness to Democrats replacing Biden and potentially Vice President Harris on the party’s ticket in the wake of Biden’s debate performance.

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“If they were having his last wake, and it was him versus Trump, and he was being given last rites, I would still vote for Joe Biden,” he told Bloomberg in March, adding he had cast a protest vote for Nikki Haley in the Republican primary.

Late last month after the first presidential debate, Cuban said that Biden’s “performance was awful” and he appeared “feeble” in providing “underwhelming” responses to questions he was asked. 

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Cuban explained that while he still had confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out the duties of the presidency and would still vote for him, he was concerned that the debate showed that “Trump is far better than Biden at soundbites and marketing,” which could cost him the election. 

“For that reason, I’m also open to the discussion to replace Biden and/or Harris,” Cuban wrote on X the day after the presidential debate.

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Media host makes comparison between Biden getting COVID, Trump getting shot at rally

MSNBC host Joy Reid suggested on Wednesday that President Biden recovering from COVID-19 is a “sign of strength” similar to former President Trump surviving an assassination attempt.

“These two men are both elderly. Donald Trump is an elderly man who, for whatever reason, was given nine seconds to take an iconic photo-op during an active shooter situation. Weird situation, we’ll figure that out one day,” Reid said during MSNBC’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention.

Reid added that the media is portraying Trump surviving the assassination attempt and shortly returning to the campaign by appearing at his party’s convention as a “sign of strength.”

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“This current President of the United States is 81 years old and has COVID, should he be fine in a couple of days, doesn’t that convey exactly the same thing? That he’s strong enough – older than Trump – to have gotten something that used to really be fatal to people his age. So, if he does fine out of it and comes back and is able to do rallies, isn’t that exactly the same?,” Reid said.

The White House announced on Wednesday that Biden contracted COVID-19 and will self-isolate in Delaware.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president was “vaccinated and boosted” and was experiencing mild symptoms. 

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Reid said Biden contracting COVID is an opportunity for him to show how to be responsible.

“And it’s also, a quite interesting opportunity for President Biden to also show being responsible. I assume he’s going to put a mask on when he gets inside Air Force One and not spread COVID around. But also to remind people of what hell we went through with COVID because of Donald Trump,” Reid said. “Here is a great messaging opportunity for President Biden to bring out the tape and remind people of how many people died; a million people are no longer with us. Peoples’ grandmas were dying alone with their iPad. A great opportunity and messaging opportunity should the White House choose to take it.”

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On Instagram’s Threads, Reid questioned the nature of Trump’s injuries from the assassination attempt.

“I have many questions! Like where are the medical reports? What caused Trump’s injury and what was the injury? Sheapnel? [sic] Glass? A bullet? Where were the three attendees who were shot seated or standing relative to Trump? Why was Trump allowed to stand and pose for photos, fist pumping for nearly ten seconds while asking about his shoe when there could easily have been additional shooters?” Reid wrote.

Top Senate Dem reportedly meets with Biden and tells him to end his campaign

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer reportedly told President Biden in a “blunt one-on-one conversation” Saturday it would be best if he “bowed out of the race,” according to an ABC report on X.

“Chuck Schumer had a blunt one-on-one conversation with Biden Saturday afternoon in Rehoboth. Schumer forcefully made the case that it would be best if Biden bowed out of the race,”  ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote. “Schumer’s office wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the conversation, telling me only, ‘Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus.’”

The Senate majority leader’s office issued a similar response obtained by Fox News Digital on Wednesday, but waved off ABC’s report.

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“Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation,” a spokesperson for Sen. Schumer said. “Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”

The news comes as the New York Democrat pushed for the Democratic National Convention’s delay as questions persist about President Biden’s 2024 candidacy due to concerns over his mental acuity, according to multiple sources.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital in a statement after publication that Biden “told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.”

Schumer spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and both men agreed to urge the DNC to delay a virtual roll call planned for this month to officially nominate Biden, three sources told Fox News Digital.

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It was revealed Wednesday that the DNC was delaying its nomination plans to August after significant pushback from party members toward an initial plan to nominate Biden later this month.

“We have confirmed with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic National Convention that no virtual voting will begin before August 1,” wrote DNC Rules Committee co-chairs Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and veteran Democratic Party official Leah Daughtry in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., became the 20th congressional Democrat to call on Biden to step aside on Wednesday. “I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

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His call came one day after a report claimed he told donors “I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose.”

President Biden has become more receptive to leaving the race, moving from arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris can’t win to asking advisers if the vice president can win, according to a report from CNN.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Wednesday evening that Biden had contracted COVID-19. The COVID diagnosis follows remarks from a day earlier in which Biden said a medical condition could lead to him dropping out of the race.

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“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, the doctors came and said you’ve got this problem, that problem,” Biden told BET’s Ed Gordon . “But I made a serious mistake in the whole debate and, look, when I originally ran, you might remember it, I said I was gonna be a transitional candidate. I thought that I would be able to move from this, to pass it on to somebody else. But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided.”