The FBI Director made a startling claim Wednesday that former President Donald Trump might not have been struck by an actual bullet when an assailant attempted to assassinate him at a political rally, suggesting he was injured by shrapnel instead.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing that the exact cause of the injury to Trump’s ear during the incident was unclear. “With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray stated in response to a question from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Jordan had inquired about the eight shots fired by the would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, at the ill-fated Pennsylvania rally on July 13. “We obviously know that Mr. Comperatore lost his life, two other rally-goers were injured, and then the one that hit President Trump,” Jordan began before asking, “Where did all eight bullets go?”
Trump’s team denounced Wray’s assertion on Thursday as “conspiracy bulls–t.” “Anyone who believes this conspiracy bullshit is either mentally deficient or willfully peddling falsehoods for political reasons,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Post. “We have seen there is no depth low enough for the Biden-Harris Administration. So it’s not surprising they are doing this now,” he added.
Wray’s comments contradict the GOP nominee’s account of the incident, which he described as a “very surreal experience” that was “supposed” to leave him dead. “The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump told The Post the day after the shooting at his campaign rally in Butler, Pa. “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead.” Trump also recounted being quickly evacuated by Secret Service agents despite wanting to continue his speech. “I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot,” he said.
Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers seconds after he fired the eight shots into the crowd. Trump, 78, also criticized Wray on Truth Social Wednesday, accusing the FBI director, whom he appointed in 2017, of “sweet talking” the committee regarding concerns over President Joe Biden’s apparent mental decline.
“I watched the Congressional Hearing today as Christopher Wray was asked the question whether or not he noticed any Cognitive Degeneration in his many conversations with Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump posted. “[D]espite the fact that Special Counsel Robert Hur said, effectively, that Joe Biden is INCOMPETENT, with LITTLE MEMORY, etc., Wray said that ‘it is not something I observed during my interactions with him, which were uneventful and unremarkable,’ essentially stating that he found nothing wrong, mentally or physically, with ‘Joe,’” the former president continued. “If that is the case, Director Wray should resign immediately from the FBI,” Trump demanded.
The former president argued that “anybody can see that Joe Biden is cognitively and physically challenged, and if you can’t see that, you sure as hell can’t be running the FBI.” Numerous Republicans have accused the Biden administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, of engaging in a cover-up to hide the president’s decline from the public.
Biden, 81, announced Sunday that he was ending his re-election bid amid mounting calls for him to drop out of the race over concerns about his health. He vowed, however, to remain in office through the end of his term.
