FBI Director Christopher Wray is expected to testify about the agency’s investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, with lawmakers at a congressional hearing likely to press him for new details about the shooter’s motive.
WASHINGTON – FBI Director Christopher Wray is expected to testify Wednesday about the agency’s investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trumpwith lawmakers attending a congressional hearing likely to press him for new details about the shooter’s motives and background.
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee will represent Wray’s most detailed comments to date on a shooting that has thrust the FBI back into political turmoil as agents continue to investigate the 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooksand the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
The hearing was scheduled long before the June 13 shooting as part of the committee’s routine oversight of the FBI and Justice Department, and while lawmakers could address a wide range of topics, questions about the shooting are expected to dominate the session.
Despite being nominated by Trump, Wray typically faces adversarial questions from the Republican-led panel, a reflection of lingering discontent over the FBI’s investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 campaign. level of scrutiny directed at the Secret Service over security failures that preceded the shooting, which culminated Tuesday at the resignation of Director Kimberly CheatleWray will likely be questioned by lawmakers skeptical of the agency’s assessment that Crooks left no obvious ideological motive that could explain his actions.
The FBI said it is investigating the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, that killed one rally attendee and seriously injured two others, as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted murder.
Wray and other senior officials privately briefed members of Congress last week, telling them that Crooks had photos on his phone of Trump and President Joe Biden and other officials, and also looked at the dates of the Democratic National Convention as well as Trump’s appearances. A law enforcement official told the Associated Press last week that Crooks had also flown over the rally site before the event in an apparent effort to survey the scene in advance.
