FBI Director Christopher Wray, while updating Congress on the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, cast doubt on whether Trump was struck by a bullet during the incident at a Pennsylvania political rally.
Wray said, “With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”
“I don’t know right now whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have landed somewhere else,” he added.
The update addressed security failures that allowed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire. Crooks, 20, killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and injured two others, including Trump.
Donald Trump has since provided detailed accounts of the shooting and was seen with a bandage over his ear. “When I went down, bullets were coming over my head and you hear them, it’s like a zip, zip,” he said.
Trump claims his Secret Service detail “thought it was over when I went down” due to “a lot of blood coming” from his ear being grazed. He argued with his agents, insisting he was “not going on a stretcher” and vowed to “get up.”
Trump credits a last-minute turn of his head to glance at a screen for saving him from the bullet. “I’m supposed to be dead. The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn, but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount,” he said, attributing his survival to “luck or by God.”
Initial reports speculated that Trump might have been struck by shattered glass when a bullet hit the teleprompter. However, this theory was debunked when photos showed both glass screens intact after the attack.
Wray’s testimony also revealed that Crooks had researched the assassination of President John F Kennedy prior to the shooting. The gunman did a Google search one week prior of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” according to Wray. This reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed Kennedy from a sniper’s perch in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, indicated Crooks’ interest in public figures but did not reveal a clear ideological motive.
Wray said, “With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”
“I don’t know right now whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have landed somewhere else,” he added.
The update addressed security failures that allowed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks to open fire. Crooks, 20, killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and injured two others, including Trump.
Donald Trump has since provided detailed accounts of the shooting and was seen with a bandage over his ear. “When I went down, bullets were coming over my head and you hear them, it’s like a zip, zip,” he said.
Trump claims his Secret Service detail “thought it was over when I went down” due to “a lot of blood coming” from his ear being grazed. He argued with his agents, insisting he was “not going on a stretcher” and vowed to “get up.”
Trump credits a last-minute turn of his head to glance at a screen for saving him from the bullet. “I’m supposed to be dead. The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn, but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount,” he said, attributing his survival to “luck or by God.”
Initial reports speculated that Trump might have been struck by shattered glass when a bullet hit the teleprompter. However, this theory was debunked when photos showed both glass screens intact after the attack.
Wray’s testimony also revealed that Crooks had researched the assassination of President John F Kennedy prior to the shooting. The gunman did a Google search one week prior of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” according to Wray. This reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed Kennedy from a sniper’s perch in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, indicated Crooks’ interest in public figures but did not reveal a clear ideological motive.