It’s almost as if the country has forgotten that Trump was nearly assassinated. We’re still demanding answers, and they’re trickling out.
And this shocking Trump assassination development will leave your jaw on the floor.
Sen. Ron Johnson isn’t holding back in his criticism of the FBI and Secret Service, accusing them of stonewalling a crucial Senate investigation into last month’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Johnson, a staunch Trump ally, is part of a bipartisan Senate probe into the shocking attempt on Trump’s life and has expressed deep frustration with the way these agencies are handling the investigation.
In a fiery appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Johnson (R-Wis.) pulled no punches. He blasted the FBI and Secret Service for complicating the investigation by providing heavily redacted documents, often at the last minute before key interviews.
“All I can really tell you is the Secret Service, FBI are basically dragging their feet. They’re stonewalling us,” Johnson said, clearly exasperated.
“We’re not getting squat, from my standpoint, from the Secret Service or the FBI. We have requested all their 302s, their transcriptions of their interviews with hundreds of individuals. They’re not turning those over to us as well.”
Johnson’s frustration is understandable given the gravity of the situation. The assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, saw 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks open fire from a rooftop, firing eight shots.
One of those bullets grazed Trump’s right ear, drawing blood. The tragic attack also claimed the life of firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and left two other rally attendees — David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74 — severely wounded. Crooks was ultimately taken down by law enforcement.
The situation has raised serious questions about how Crooks was able to carry out the attack, and Johnson believes the FBI and Secret Service are only fueling suspicion with their handling of the investigation.
“If you want to design an investigation to raise suspicions and drive conspiracy theories, this is exactly how you do that investigation,” Johnson warned. “It was just jaw-dropping that they released the body for cremation before anybody’s seen any autopsy or toxicology reports. It’s just driving suspicion and conspiracy theories.”
Johnson’s remarks come as Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.) leads an inquiry into the assassination attempt.
Johnson, who previously chaired the committee, has been vocal about the need for transparency and accountability.
Additional investigations are also underway, including one by the newly established bipartisan House task force and another by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.
The Secret Service, in particular, has been under intense scrutiny for its failures leading up to the attack. The Butler rally marked the closest a gunman has come to assassinating a sitting or former U.S. president since the 1981 attempt on Ronald Reagan.
The fallout has been severe, with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepping down last month amid mounting political pressure. At least five other officials within the agency have been reassigned to administrative duties, barring them from operational planning.
Johnson didn’t mince words about his frustration with the lack of cooperation from the agencies involved. “They’re the only ones that are going to have access to this information until they decide what information to give us and when to give it to us. They’re in total control,” he lamented.
The FBI, for its part, has pushed back against Johnson’s claims, stating that any suggestion the bureau is “interfering” with the congressional probe is “inaccurate and unfounded.”
A spokesperson for the bureau told the New York Post, “We have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence. The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to share information with Congress.”
As for the controversial release of Crooks’ body for cremation, the FBI spokesperson argued that it was “in keeping with normal procedures.”
Meanwhile, Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi defended the agency against Johnson’s accusations, emphasizing that the Secret Service has provided over 1,000 pages of documentation and made employees available for interviews with committee staff.
“Our desire to learn from this failure and ensure that it never happens again is unwavering and we welcome respective oversight efforts such as those by the HSGAC,” Guglielmi said.
As the Senate remains on recess until next month, the pressure on these agencies to come clean and fully cooperate with the investigation continues to mount.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
