Federal law enforcement is doing “everything wrong” in its investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, according to Senator Ron Johnson.
The ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee told DailyMail.com that the Justice Department’s actions are “appalling” and criticized the agency’s law enforcement arm, the FBI, for believing it is “above the law.”
Thomas Matthew Crooks, Trump’s 20-year-old alleged assassin, was shot dead by the Secret Service moments after one of his bullets grazed the former president’s right ear during a raid on a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on June 13, killing one supporter and seriously wounding two others.
While investigations into the events of that day are still ongoing, Crooks’ body has already been released and cremated, despite persistent questions from lawmakers.
“I think the FBI, the Justice Department and the Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong,” Johnson told DailyMail.com at Trump Tower in Chicago on Monday. “If you want people to have confidence in the investigation, it has to be transparent.”
Senator Ron Johnson (R) told DailyMail.com that “the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Secret Service are doing everything exactly wrong” in the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
“What we know about the events of July 13th comes primarily from local law enforcement,” the irate senator explained.
Several congressional committees, including the one on which Johnson sits as the top Republican, have raised questions about the assassination attempt and what could have been done to prevent it.
But Johnson says they are being blocked by the FBI, the Justice Department and the United States Secret Service (USSS).
“From a federal law enforcement standpoint, they are the law. They believe they are pretty much above the law and they have never been held accountable,” the Wisconsin lawmaker said. “They don’t believe they really need to be held accountable to the American public. They can avoid scrutiny. So that’s how they are handling this investigation.”
“Personally, I find it astonishing that they would cremate the body before all the autopsy reports were made public,” he continued.
‘It is simply incomprehensible how they are going about this. They are doing everything exactly wrong if their goal was to inspire confidence in an independent and fair investigation.
“People are suspicious, and I think they are right to be,” Johnson complained after holding a news conference on Trump’s behalf in Chicago, on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention.
Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Secret Service agents forced the former president off the stage with blood streaking his face.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a Pennsylvania native, was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service after opening fire at Trump’s Butler rally and shooting the former president in the ear, killing one of the attendees and seriously wounding two others.
Crooks managed to climb onto a roof less than the size of a football field from where Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, days before the Republican National Convention.
The 20-year-old took an AR-style rifle, legally purchased by his father, into a factory building, where he took aim at the former president and Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Crooks’ car was parked near the meeting, with explosives inside. More bombs were also found at his parents’ house, where he lived.
On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump’s ear and was just millimeters away from hitting his head, which could have been fatal.
According to Johnson, his team has asked the agencies investigating the attempt to provide interviews they conducted with witnesses and people involved in security on the day of the attempted assassination.
His advice to the FBI and the USSS: “What they could do to instill more confidence is to hand over their transcribed interviews.”
“We asked for it,” he noted, adding, “We haven’t gotten anything yet.”
“So again, they’re almost completely opaque in this thing. And that makes people suspicious, that reduces confidence in their ultimate investigation.”
Johnson said his committee is investigating the attack on Trump, but he fears the investigation is turning into an “investigation of the investigation.”