Biden-era FBI documents released to a watchdog group reveal emails that would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Crooks sent to a local sheriff’s department prior to the attack in Butler, Pa., in the summer of 2024.
The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, contain summaries of interviews conducted with law enforcement personnel who responded to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt.
Advertisement
Among the more notable revelations is that a deputy with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office had exchanged two emails with Thomas Matthew Crooks before the attack occurred.
None of this information was released during the remainder of President Biden’s term.
According to an FBI electronic communication dated July 17, 2024, which summarized interviews conducted the previous day with five sheriff’s deputies, the deputy said she did not immediately realize she had previously communicated with Crooks when his identity was publicly released following the shooting.
The records indicate investigators reviewed the contacts as part of their broader effort to reconstruct Crooks’ activities and interactions before the assassination attempt, though the available documents do not suggest the deputy had any prior knowledge of his plans or intentions.
Advertisement
The deputy told investigators that she became aware of the connection only after receiving an inquiry from a New York Times reporter in the days following the assassination attempt. The request prompted her to search her email records to determine whether she had ever interacted with Crooks.
According to the FBI interview summary, the deputy discovered two emails from Crooks in her inbox. The released records do not reveal the contents of those messages, as the relevant sections remain redacted.
The deputy reportedly told investigators that her contact with Crooks was limited entirely to those email exchanges and that she had never met him or communicated with him in any other capacity.
The FBI documents provide little additional information about the correspondence. Key details—including when the emails were sent, what they concerned, and why Crooks contacted the sheriff’s office employee—remain undisclosed in the records released to the public.
MASSIVE INVESTIGATION: @JudicialWatch now has nearly two dozen FOIA requests pending on the assassination attempt of @RealDonaldTrump… pic.twitter.com/VGdg6EgNYN
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) July 23, 2024
The newly released records are part of a broader collection of investigative materials obtained by Judicial Watch through litigation against the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
Judicial Watch’s original Freedom of Information Act request, submitted in July 2024, sought a wide range of records connected to Thomas Matthew Crooks and the July 13 assassination attempt, including investigative reports, witness interviews, internal communications, and other law-enforcement documents.
The records were released only after the organization pursued legal action to compel a response from federal agencies.
Among the documents is an FBI FD-302 interview summary involving a medic assigned to the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, one of the agencies providing support during the rally.
According to the interview summary, a medic arrived at the Butler County fairgrounds at approximately 9 a.m. on July 13 and was assigned to provide medical coverage for the event.
Following the shooting, which wounded Trump in his right ear and killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore, she was directed to the nearby American Glass Research (AGR) building, where investigators later determined Crooks had positioned himself on a rooftop before opening fire.
According to the FBI interview summary, the medic reached the roof of the AGR building by climbing a collapsible ladder and arrived at approximately 6:23 p.m., shortly after law enforcement had secured the scene.
After assessing Crooks, she checked for a carotid pulse and found none. The medic officially pronounced him dead at 6:25 p.m. She told investigators that Crooks was lying face down on the rooftop, restrained with flex-cuffs, with a rifle positioned nearby.
The interview summary also details items recovered at the scene. According to the medic’s account, a Washington County SWAT officer searched Crooks’ right pocket and recovered a cellular phone as well as a gray electronic device equipped with numbered push buttons and an antenna.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
