Republican party presidential candidate Donald Trump will meet with federal agents investigating the assassination attempt against him earlier this month in west Pennsylvania.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek called the meeting “a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime, under any other circumstances.”
The 78-year-old nominee is believed to have been struck by a bullet or bullet fragment after a 20-year-old gunman using an AR-15 style rifle missed a clear shot at him from roughly 150 yards.
Federal investigators have conducted roughly 450 interviews in connection to the shooting, but still haven’t determined a motive. Alleged shooter Thomas Crooks was killed by a sniper team after firing several shots that killed a bystander and wounded Trump and two other men at a MAGA rally.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid criticism over security lapses leading to the deadly shooting in Butler County on July 13. CBS News said Crooks fired eight shots in six seconds from a rooftop perch before a bullet took his life.
Trump has long been at odds with the FBI.
He complained in November that federal agents searching his country club home in Florida for classified documents didn’t remove their shoes. Numerous sensitive documents were recovered. Criminal charges brought against Trump were later dismissed.
FBI director Christopher Wray angered Trump last week when he told the House Judiciary Committee his agency wasn’t sure whether the GOP party leader was directly struck by a bullet or injured by fragments from one that hit something else nearby.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
“No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. “No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!”
The FBI didn’t say when it plans to meet with Trump.
With News Wire Services
