FBI agent says agency eager to get ex-US president’s ‘perspective on what he observed’ during July 13 rally shooting.
Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed as part of an FBI investigation into the assassination attempt against the former United States president, an official said, as questions continue to swirl around the campaign rally shooting.
Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said on Monday that the agency wants “to get [Trump’s] perspective on what he observed”.
The former president and Republican Party 2024 presidential nominee has agreed to sit for a standard victim’s interview, which “will be consistent with any victim interview we do”, Rojek told reporters.
Trump, who has been highly critical of the FBI, was shot in the ear during a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, spurring widespread condemnation and questions about what security measures were put in place before the event.
Witnesses say the alleged gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had taken up a position on a rooftop with a direct line of sight of the rally stage. One rally attendee was killed and two were seriously injured in the incident.
During Monday’s briefing, FBI officials said they had yet to identify a motive for the shooting.
But they said Crooks had conducted online searches into prior mass shooting events, improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister in May.
US lawmakers have pressed the country’s law enforcement agencies to explain their security protocols ahead of the Trump rally shooting, which the FBI has said it is investigating as an act of “domestic terrorism” and an attempted assassination.
Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a congressional hearing that the agency will leave “no stone unturned” as it looks into what happened.
A day earlier, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid widespread pressure over the incident.
“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”