FBI chief expresses doubts Was Trump not hit by a bullet in the assassination attempt?
According to the FBI, it has not been conclusively proven that Donald Trump was actually hit by a bullet during the assassination attempt on July 13. The agency has also made new details about the perpetrator public.
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- The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating what really caused the former president to be wounded in an assassination attempt.
- Whether Donald Trump was really hit by a bullet has not been conclusively proven, according to investigators. The question threatens to become a political issue.
- New findings also show how the alleged perpetrator prepared for the assassination attempt using Google and a drone.
Was Donald Trump not even hit in the ear by a bullet during the assassination attempt on July 13? According to FBI chief Christopher A. Wray, this has not been clarified. "With respect to former President Trump, there is some doubt as to whether it was a bullet or a fragment that struck his ear," Wray told the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, as reported by the New York Times.
"From an investigative standpoint, it doesn't matter what happened to the president's ear," explained former Special Agent Michael Harrigan. From a political perspective, however, it is of great importance.
Republicans rage against the FBI
The FBI chief's statement also triggered a strong reaction from Republicans, who have been trying to discredit the FBI for some time. "It's shocking that Christopher Wray doesn't know what the facts are, but that probably says more about his job performance - or lack thereof - than anything else," said Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
Trump himself commented on his Truth Social platform: "No wonder the once-successful FBI has lost the trust of Americans!" It was definitely a bullet that hit him in the ear.
Nevertheless, many questions about the object that hit the Republican presidential candidate remain unanswered. Trump had portrayed his survival as an act of divine intervention.
Investigators want to question Trump personally
Meanwhile, the FBI is continuing its investigation, evaluating electronic evidence and analyzing traces from the crime scene. For example, US federal police are examining numerous metal fragments found near the stage of a campaign event in Butler. They want to determine whether the assassin's bullet really grazed the former president's head.
The authorities have also requested that Donald Trump be interviewed as part of the comprehensive investigation. It is hoped that this will provide further insight into the shooting and possibly a more complete assessment of his injury.
Trump shooter asked Google about Kennedy assassination
In the meantime, it became known that the assassin had apparently obtained information about the murder of John F. Kennedy on the internet. In a laptop that is said to have belonged to the alleged shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, investigators came across the Google search query "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?", explained FBI chief Christopher Wray. This probably refers to Lee Harvey Oswald, who shot then-President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
The Google search dates back to July 6, one week before the assassination attempt on Trump. Hours before the assassination attempt, the suspect had scouted the area with a drone, which he had flown to almost 180 meters from the stage on which Trump was later to stand, Wray confirmed in the hearing. The drone and the remote control had been retrieved by the US Federal Police from the suspected shooter's car.
With material from the news agencies dpa and AP.
