Butler, Pennsylvania – FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said Tuesday that federal agents do not have full access to emails sent by former President Trump’s gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
“I believe that some of the applications that he was using online were encrypted in nature, which resulted in a range of returns being generated,” Abbate said while testifying before members of the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees.
“Some of the email accounts will be compromised. Some of them are encrypted so they won’t be able to get their information back,” he said.
Sen. Abbate’s admission that the FBI does not have complete knowledge of Crooks’ phone came after Sen. Lindsey Graham, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked about Crooks’ electronic devices, 20 years old, that had been obtained by federal agencies.
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Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. (left) talks with FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate before testifying about the security failings that led to the July 30, 2024 assassination attempt on former President Trump. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“So what you’re saying is that a guy who attacked a former president eight times has an app and we don’t have access to it,” Graham reiterated. “If we did have access, that might reveal some relevant information.”
“That’s correct, Senator,” Mr. Abbate said.
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“If he was talking to a foreign power — and I can’t imagine a foreign power would hire this guy — if this was some grand Iranian plot, how do you resolve this issue?” Graham said.
“Senator, you know, as we’ve said, we need a solution that provides lawful access,” Abbate said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham listens as Sen. Rand Paul speaks during a Joint Committee hearing on the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump at the U.S. Capitol on July 30, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
The FBI had previously said it had been able to gain access to Crooks’ cell phone.
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“FBI technical experts were able to gain access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cell phone and continue to analyze his electronic devices,” the FBI said in a press release.
Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified as photographs were shown detailing the events that led to the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump. (Kevin Mohat/Reuters)
But FBI officials said in a conference call with reporters on Monday that encryption is a challenge, as are overseas encrypted email accounts. The FBI said there is no indication that Crooks’ plot had foreign involvement, but that investigators have been slow to access those accounts.
The joint hearing of top Secret Service and FBI officials is the third congressional hearing in just over a week to focus on the shooting at a Trump rally that left the former president and two others injured and one attendee dead.
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The aftermath of the July 13 attack led to the resignation of former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who announced her decision to step down after facing fierce criticism following testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Rowe, the agency’s deputy director, was subsequently named acting director of the Secret Service.
