'Click bait lie': FBI fires back at Tom Fitton over Trump Butler assassination records claim
This is a CLICK BAIT LIE by @JudicialWatch which is now nothing more than the fake news media!
— FBI Rapid Response (@FBI_Response) June 7, 2026
The unredacted documents are interviews of Thomas Crooks' by COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS, NOT cops, wherein those instructors reference to having emailed Thomas Crooks about COURSE WORK.… https://t.co/iHpI6VJ4GK
WASHINGTON, DC: The FBI publicly attacked a prominent conservative watchdog group after it accused the bureau of withholding records related to the 2024 attempt on President Donald Trump's life.
The bureau’s response was unusually blunt and came amid renewed attention on documents connected to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
FBI slams Tom Fitton over Butler claims
The dispute erupted on Sunday, June 7, after Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton claimed that newly released FBI records showed gunman Thomas Crooks had “emailed local law enforcement before” the attack.
Fitton also alleged that, “For whatever reason, FBI is slow rolling the release of records about Butler.”
The FBI’s Rapid Response account quickly pushed back. “This is a CLICK BAIT LIE by Judicial Watch which is now nothing more than the fake news media!” the account wrote on X.
The dispute erupted on Sunday, June 7, after Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton claimed that newly released FBI records showed gunman Thomas Crooks had “emailed local law enforcement before” the attack.
Fitton also alleged that, “For whatever reason, FBI is slow rolling the release of records about Butler.”
The FBI’s Rapid Response account quickly pushed back. “This is a CLICK BAIT LIE by Judicial Watch which is now nothing more than the fake news media!” the account wrote on X.
Butler shooting investigation faces renewed scrutiny
Fitton’s post accompanied a video recorded a year earlier in which he accused the FBI of “covering [the attack] up everyday since” it occurred.
He also linked to a Judicial Watch report published two days earlier about records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
NEW: FBI records shows Trump shooter emailed local law enforcement before Butler assassination attempt. For whatever reason, FBI is slow rolling the release of records about Butler! https://t.co/ZOiWp8KG48
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 7, 2026
According to Judicial Watch, the documents showed that a Butler County Sheriff's deputy exchanged emails with Crooks before the July 13, 2024, shooting.
The group also said the records indicated that a SWAT officer recovered a “gray remote device” with an antenna from Crooks’ pocket after he was killed.
The FBI’s response centered on what it described as a misrepresentation of those records, arguing that the emails referenced in the documents involved college instructors discussing coursework rather than communications from law enforcement.
FBI defends findings in Butler shooting probe
The clash renewed attention on the investigation into the attack that wounded Trump and killed rally attendee Corey Comperatore. Last year, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News that investigators concluded Crooks acted alone.
Patel said the FBI devoted extensive resources to the case, with 485 agents participating in the investigation and more than 1,000 interviews conducted.
Those findings remain central to the bureau’s defense as it pushes back against claims that information related to the Butler shooting is being withheld. Sunday's public exchange suggests that scrutiny of the records, and the FBI’s handling of them, is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
