GOP lawmakers blindsided by new revelations about Trump Butler shooter: 'Awfully strange', tell me about this news in (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-lawmakers-blindsided-new-revelations-about-trump-butler-shooter-awfully-strange)
16-09-2026
The article reports that Republican lawmakers investigating the July 2024 assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, expressed frustration after being blindsided by newly disclosed FBI records regarding the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Key details from the report include:
Newly Revealed Online Searches: Records obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley revealed that Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, had conducted online searches in May 2024about two months before the shootingseeking ways to prevent his son from accessing firearms.
Lack of Federal Sharing with Task Force: Rep. Mike Kelly, who led the bipartisan House task force investigating the shooting, called the lack of disclosure “awfully strange.” He stated that federal agencies largely stonewalled their investigation at the time, leaving lawmakers unaware of the father’s search history or federal interviews with Crooks’ family, forcing the task force to rely mostly on local law enforcement findings for its December 2024 report.
Calls for Full Transparency: Lawmakers, including Senator Josh Hawley, argued that the newly surfaced details underscore lingering gaps in the official account. They questioned whether erratic behavior from the gunman was ever reported and pushed for a complete accounting of federal and local security failures to avoid long-term unresolved questions.