Deputy Director of the FBI Paul Abbate contradicted his boss, FBI Director Christopher Wray, about whether former President Donald Trump was indeed hit in the ear by a bullet.
On July 30, Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee grilled Abbate and Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. over Thomas Matthew Crooks' failed attempt to assassinate Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Rowe became acting director of the Secret Service after former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in the wake of her bungled testimony before the House two weeks ago.
The Secret Service has faced severe criticism over failure to ensure proper security measures before the rally and the lack of communications between the agency and local law enforcement on the scene.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Abbate if there was any "doubt" in his mind or "in the collective mind of the FBI that President Trump was shot in the ear by a bullet fired by the assassin, Crooks."
Abbate told the senator that there was "absolutely no doubt in the FBI's mind whether former President Trump was hit with a bullet and wounded in the ear."
Wray told the House Judiciary Committee on July 24, “I think with respect to former President Trump there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, hit his ear.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Wray’s comments that Trump may not have been hit by a round fired by Crooks during the Pennsylvania rally.
“We’ve all seen the video, we’ve seen the analysis, we’ve heard it from multiple sources in different angles that a bullet went through his ear. I’m not sure it matters that much,” said Johnson.
Abbate stated that the FBI discovered a social media account operated by Crooks on Gab, on which he made "extreme" comments that "appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes" and "espouse political violence."
However, Gab CEO Andrew Torba refuted Abbate, tweeting, "The FBI is now claiming that the Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks had an unspecified 'social media account' in 2019/2020 (when he was 14/15 years old) that posted 'anti-immigrant and anti-semitic' content."
"This is not consistent with Gab's understanding of the shooter's motives based on an Emergency Disclosure Request ('EDR') we received from the FBI last week for the Gab account 'EpicMicrowave' which, based on the content of that EDR, the FBI appeared to think belonged to Thomas Crooks," Torba said.
"The story is this: the account for which data was requested was, UNEQUIVOCALLY, pro-Biden and in particular pro-Biden's immigration policy."
"To the best of Gab's knowledge, as of 2021, Crooks was a pro-lockdown, pro-immigration, left-wing Joe Biden supporter," Torba added.
Meanwhile, Rowe said that he was "ashamed" by his agency's failures and acknowledged that the Secret Service was ultimately responsible for securing the site, but blamed local law enforcement stationed near the roof where Crooks fired his shots for not spotting him before he opened fire.
"The only thing we had was that locals were working an issue at the three o'clock — which would have been the former president's right-hand side — which is where the shot came," said Rowe.
"Nothing about man on the roof, nothing about man with a gun," he continue. "None of that information ever made it over our net. If we'd had that information, they would have been able to address it more quickly. It appears that that information was stuck or siloed in that local channel."
Members of the local SWAT team assigned to protect Trump countered Rowe's claim, revealing to ABC News that they had no contact with the Secret Service prior to the assassination attempt on the former president.
Jason Woods, one of the snipers with the SWAT team in Beaver County, said, “We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service snipers whenever they arrived, and that never happened."
“So I think that that was probably a pivotal point where I started thinking things were wrong because that never happened and we had no communication with the Secret Service,” Woods added.
Local law enforcement claim that Crooks was spotted 90 minutes before he fired his first shots, but the Secret Service let Trump on the stage fully aware that the 20-year-old attempted assassin was still at large.
Also read: New Videos of Trump Assassination Attempt Make the Secret Service Look Even Worse
An anonymous whistleblower claiming to be part of the Secret Service counter-sniper team demanded in a July 30 email obtained by RealClearPolitics that five "high-level supervisors" be fired in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump and warned that another attempt on his life may happen before the election in November.
"This agency NEEDS to change, if not now, WHEN?" said the agent.
"The NEXT assassination attempt in 30 days? Because we all SHOULD expect another attempt to happen before November."
"Failure is not an option, and on 7/13/24, WE failed. Not because of commitment or sense of dedication. But because our SUPERVISORS (aka leadership) knew better and thought our concerns were less than important," he continued.
The Secret Service agent said that he would refuse to stop speaking out until those five individuals are removed from their positions, but noted that one had already left, in reference to Cheatle.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked Rowe during his testimony why several individuals involved in security planning for the rally still remained in their positions after the deadly incident.
"I will tell you, senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly prosecuted," Rowe said in response.
The anonymous counter-sniper claimed that his team was viewed by superiors as "'guys who sit on the roof and don't do much."
He stated that the Secret Service's main priority is not to protect "an EMPTY White House located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" but to prevent "another JFK style assassination, in whatever city that may be."
"Sadly, we have fallen short for YEARS. We just got lucky and looked good doing it," he added. He accused his supervisors of brushing off concerns from his team, "as if those with less experience somehow knew more than me."
"The team I was once proud to be a part of, is something I have to now somehow hide as I move into my next career," the counter-sniper wrote.
"Who wants to hire a USSS CS guy who failed? That's the public perception I'm now faced with. The USSS CS team is a stain I will never be able to cleanse," he concluded.
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