The FBI has already interviewed nearly 100 people in 48 hours since the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the Washington Examiner has learned.
In a phone call with a senior FBI official Monday afternoon, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) was told that the FBI “so far has conducted nearly 100 interviews” since becoming the lead investigative agency, according to a committee spokesperson.
FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells told Green and the committee’s top-ranking Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), that the federal agency had gained access to the cellphone of the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park.
The FBI has shifted to investigating the attempted murder of Trump as “domestic terrorism.”
“The FBI is focused on the gunman, his motive, any potential associations, building a timeline of events, and related matters, while the Secret Service is conducting a separate review of its security protocol,” the committee spokesperson wrote in an email.
Green plans to visit the site of the rally after the scene has been processed.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are launching a sprawling multicommittee investigation into the Secret Service’s security failures that resulted in the assassination attempt against Trump.
The House Oversight Committee will get a virtual briefing from the Secret Service on Tuesday, according to a source familiar. In addition to the briefing, members expect Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear before a hearing of the committee on July 22, according to the same source.
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The House Judiciary Committee will focus efforts on the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The House Homeland Security Committee will focus on the Department of Homeland Security and its agency the Secret Service. Led by Green, Homeland Republicans led the charge earlier this year as the House impeached Mayorkas on two charges for actions related to the southern border crisis.
