Abbate Makes Defining Statement At Senate Hearing
There’s been a lot of confusion surrounding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, and things heated up even more after an exchange between FBI officials and lawmakers. The key question? Whether Trump was actually hit by a bullet during the attack. Let’s break down what happened.
On Tuesday, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate appeared before the Senate and made a firm statement: there has never been any doubt that Trump was struck by a bullet in the ear during the assassination attempt. This was a pretty clear declaration, especially after some earlier comments seemed to muddy the waters.
Just days before, FBI Director Christopher Wray had raised some eyebrows during a House hearing when he suggested that Trump’s injury might have been caused by shrapnel rather than a bullet. This statement caused quite a stir, leading to questions about what really happened during the rally.
.@SenJohnKennedy asks if there's any doubt President Trump was shot in the ear: "It wasn't a space laser? It wasn't a murder hornet? It wasn't sasquatch? It was a bullet...fired by Crooks that hit president Trump in the ear and almost killed him?"
FBI Deputy Director: "100%" pic.twitter.com/95SQHC5cpZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 30, 2024
Senator John Kennedy, R-LA, wasn’t going to let the issue slide. He pressed Abbate on whether the FBI had any doubts about what caused Trump’s injury. Abbate’s response was crystal clear: “There is absolutely no doubt in the FBI’s mind whether former President Trump was hit with a bullet and wounded in the ear.”
To drive the point home, Kennedy threw in some colorful hypotheticals—asking if it might have been a “space laser,” “murder hornet,” or even “Sasquatch”—to which Abbate firmly replied that it was indeed a bullet fired by the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Now, for some context: during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks, a 20-year-old gunman, opened fire. A Secret Service sniper quickly took him down, but not before Trump was grazed by a bullet in the ear. The incident also claimed the life of a rally-goer, Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old fireman, and left two others wounded, though they have since been released from the hospital.
The back-and-forth about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel caused some serious controversy, especially after Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-TX, who was Trump’s White House physician, chimed in. He stated on X (formerly Twitter) that he had personally examined Trump’s wound and criticized Wray’s comments as “absolutely irresponsible.”
Trump, never one to stay quiet, responded to the situation by calling on Wray to step down, albeit for reasons unrelated to the shooting. But he didn’t miss the chance to take a jab at the FBI, saying, “No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!”
To clear up any remaining confusion, the FBI released a statement last Friday, confirming that Trump was indeed struck by a bullet, possibly fragmented, from Crooks' rifle.