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The FBI is seeking to interview Donald Trump as investigators try to get to the bottom of whether or not he was struck in the ear by a bullet or shrapnel during the assassination attempt earlier this month.
Two weeks on from the attack at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, unanswered questions remain about the attempt on Trump’s life.
Gunman Thomas Crooks, 20, fired eight rounds from his AR-15 rifle towards the Republican presidential nominee, killing one rallygoer, wounding two others and leaving Trump with an injury to his ear.
On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the ongoing investigation into the response of law enforcement agencies that day and raised doubts as to whether the former president’s ear was struck by a live round.
“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 said.
FBI investigators have now asked to interview the former president as they try to identify the specific cause of his injury as part of the probe, an agency and law enforcement official told The New York Times.
In a statement on Thursday, the bureau said its shooting reconstruction team “continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation remains ongoing”.
Trump, his former White House doctor and other Republicans have hit out at the FBI director for suggesting that it could be anything other than a bullet that punctured the former president’s ear – and have doubled down on the matter.
“FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!), but he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively “uneventful” - Wrong!” the former president posted on Truth Social late on Thursday.
“That’s why he knows nothing about the terrorists and other criminals pouring into our Country at record levels. His only focus is destroying J6 Patriots, Raiding Mar-a-Lago, and saving Radical Left Lunatics, like the ones now in D.C. burning American flags and spray painting over our great National Monuments - with zero retribution. No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard.
“There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a “bullet wound to the ear,” and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that it was a bullet that struck him in both public comments and social media posts about the shooting.
“No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a ‘bullet wound to the ear,’ and that is what it was,” Trump wrote once more on Truth Social on Thursday evening.
Former White House physician Ronny Jackson turned Republican lawmaker, who inspected Trump’s wound, agreed that it was “absolutely a bullet” that clipped the former president’s ear and accused Wray of “another politically motivated move to try and stop President Trump from returning to the White House”.
“Christopher Wray was COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE and OUT OF LINE to question if President Trump was hit by a bullet,” Dr Jackson added on X.
“I examined the bullet wound hours after he was shot. It was ABSOLUTELY a bullet wound with ALL the hallmark signs that accompany a wound from a high-powered rifle. Not to mention, we ALL SAW IT with our own eyes!!”
Jackson has previously said that Trump was shot in the ear creating a 2cm-wide wound, according to a memo shared with Axios.
Trump’s team has not shared his medical records from the incident.
The FBI’s investigation comes as pressure continues to mount on law enforcement agencies to explain what is seen to be a huge security failure that day.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted that it was “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades” when she testified before the House on Monday. She resigned the next day saying that: “As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
The House has now established a bipartisan taskforce to investigate how authorities failed to stop the attempted hit on Trump.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who announced the taskforce on Wednesday, said it will leverage the full authority of the House – including subpoena power.
