'New info was just found': Trump revives Butler shooting fight, blasts Biden, FBI and Wray
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump says information tied to the July 2024 Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt was “missing, altered, corrupted, or gone” when he returned to office, claiming that “new info was just found” and accusing former FBI Director Christopher Wray of mishandling the case.
Trump says Butler evidence disappeared
Trump wrote Tuesday that the FBI under President Joe Biden failed to do what it “should have” done after the shooting at his campaign rally in Butler on July 13, 2024.
He said that by January 20, 2025, when he returned to the White House, much of the information was no longer intact.
“New info was just found!” Trump wrote, without identifying the material he was referring to or explaining who discovered it.
The FBI became the lead federal agency investigating the attack, identifying Thomas Matthew Crooks as the shooter.
The bureau said in 2024 that Crooks appeared to have acted alone while investigators continued examining his motive and possible contacts.
Wray faces Trump’s renewed accusations
Trump directly blamed Wray for how the assassination investigation was handled, calling the former director a “Dirty Cop” and saying he should “pay a price” for his handling of the attack and statements about it.
Wray was appointed FBI director by Trump in 2017 and served until January 20, 2025.
He announced before leaving that he would serve through the end of the Biden administration and then step down.
Kash Patel succeeded him as FBI director in February 2025.
The FBI’s public record shows that Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2024, days after the shooting, and described the investigation as full and thorough.
The bureau later reported hundreds of interviews, digital evidence reviews and investigative work involving Crooks’ movements, devices and purchases.
Trump’s post did not provide evidence showing that Wray altered, corrupted or removed investigative material.
What the official reviews found
The FBI’s investigation found no credible evidence that Crooks conspired with another person, according to an August 2024 update.
The bureau also said it had not established a definitive motive at that stage.
Separate reviews focused heavily on security failures surrounding the rally.
A bipartisan House task force later concluded that failures in planning, execution and leadership by the Secret Service and law enforcement partners contributed to the conditions that allowed Crooks to reach a roof and fire at Trump.
Those findings addressed the security breakdown surrounding the shooting, while Trump’s post focuses on the handling of investigative information.
