The FBI confirmed Friday that Donald Trump was hit by a bullet in the ear during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Two days earlier, a senior FBI official had said there were “questions” about the bullet that struck the former president.
“The bullet that struck former President Trump in the ear was either a whole bullet or a fragmented bullet fired from a deceased individual’s rifle,” the FBI said in a statement.
The FBI’s confirmation that President Trump, 78, was hit by one of the bullets fired by 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks came after the former commander in chief was incensed by FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“With regards to former President Trump, there are questions as to whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that struck his ear,” Wray told lawmakers.
Trump, Authentic Social Postsclaimed Wray was “wrong” and that the FBI “didn’t even look to see what hit him in the ear”, and that the FBI director’s suggestion that it could have been something other than a bullet is why “a once-renowned bureau has lost the trust of America”.
The Republican presidential candidate claimed he “felt the bullets cutting through his skin” after gunshots rang out at a rally hours after the assassination attempt.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Trump’s former White House physician who treated the former president after the shooting, said Friday there was “no evidence whatsoever” that what hit Trump’s ear was “anything other than a bullet.”
In response to the FBI statement, President Trump said he “fully accepts” Wray’s “apology.”
What we know about the attempted assassination of President Trump
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks has been identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent.
- The gunman grazed President Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old former fire chief and wounded two other people at the rally.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he sought out dates for speeches by President Trump and the Democratic National Convention.
- FBI officials said the criminal’s search history also revealed a broad interest in famous people and celebrities, regardless of political affiliation.
- “I was supposed to be dead,” Trump told The Washington Post exclusively at the rally, describing how he survived the “surreal” assassination attempt.
- Prominent politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it a “heinous, horrific and despicable act.”
“I believe this is the best apology we could get from Secretary Wray and I fully accept it!,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Wray, 57, was hired as FBI director by President Trump in 2017.
