Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – The FBI made a deal with Israel Technology company Cellebrite According to sources familiar with the investigation, the move is to assist in the investigation of Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident who attempted to assassinate former President Trump at a rally on July 13 and fatally shot a supporter in the crowd.
US law enforcement agencies have long relied on the company for its ability to hack into smartphones from major tech companies running a range of mobile operating systems.
But while a software patch from Cellebrite gave investigators access to Crooks’ phone within 24 hours of the shooting, the company was kept in the dark about the investigation’s findings, people familiar with the matter said.
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After the U.S. Secret Service returned fire during the assassination attempt on former President Trump, authorities approached the suspected shooter from the spot where he fell. (Source: Fox News Digital)
The FBI told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that it does not comment on the tools or methods the agency uses and could not confirm or deny whether CellBright was involved in the Crooks investigation.
The investigation is wide-ranging, but goes beyond accessing Crooks’ phone data: legal action has been taken against the providers of encrypted messaging services and the FBI is awaiting a response from them.
Authorities told lawmakers that the FBI obtained shocking search history and other evidence from the suspect’s phone after the gunman struck President Trump in the ear and seriously injured two other spectators, but that encrypted apps ran into problems.
A photo of a cell phone and transmitter found next to suspect Thomas Crooks after the attempted assassination of former President Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Senator Chuck Grassley)
“I believe he experienced a range of returns because some of the applications he was using online were encrypted in nature,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said during Tuesday’s hearing, in response to questioning by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
FBI still doesn’t have full access to shooter’s online activity
Once investigators have a search warrant or other legal authorization, Cellebrite provides tools to help them access encrypted apps and hidden data on a suspect’s phone, the company’s chief marketing officer, David Gee, told Fox News.
Most smartphone apps today use some form of encryption and it’s not uncommon for them to store data outside the United States, he added.
Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Whether that application is made in the US, Europe or Asia, there’s likely to be some encryption built in to ensure that data is generally encrypted as it’s transmitted, received and stored on the device,” he said.
But reports that Crooks used encrypted apps and stored his data overseas raise questions about who and what he spoke to, especially since federal authorities have acknowledged they were aware of Iranian threats against Trump’s life before the assassination attempt.
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawls across a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Trump. (DJ Laughery. Insert image: via Fox News Digital)
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Abbate said investigators had not found any indication that Crooks had any co-conspirators “either domestically or internationally,” but said the coded information remains a mystery and investigators are looking ahead until all results are known.
The FBI was able to access some of Crooks’ emails, but some of his encrypted communications remain unavailable, the agency said, and it is also waiting for responses to legal requests from the company behind the app.
Thomas Matthew Crooks is a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. (Source: Fox News Digital)
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Investigators are also continuing to examine intelligence they have received, including activity from social media accounts that the shooter may have used and that may have advocated for what Abbate called “an alternative perspective.”
On Friday, President Trump said he would return to Butler to hold a rally to memorialize the man killed by Crooks with a stray bullet.
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