The FBI says it conducted more than a thousand interviews and is “very confident” in its assessment that Thomas Crooks acted alone in his attempt to kill President Donald Trump at a rally in 2024, pushing back on online theories that have gained momentum in recent weeks.
“It is the FBI’s conclusion that Crooks acted alone,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News, which received a briefing on the evidence that was reviewed by authorities.
Bongino, FBI Director Kash Patel, and the senior official said in an interview with Fox News that online conspiracies about Crooks are simply not true. For example, the FBI did gain access to every electronic device from Crooks, examining “35 accounts linked to Crooks, including social media, bank, and other online accounts.”
“The FBI has been able to access all of the accounts,” the senior official said. “There has been reporting to inappropriately and incorrectly state that there was encryption that the FBI was not able to get into — that is not true. We have been able to get into every single account.”
Crooks did have foreign-based email accounts from Germany and Belgium, which were also “fully” accessed “within days of the attack,” the official said.
“There is no foreign connection in this case,” a senior FBI official echoed. “There is no individual that is outside U.S. borders or inside U.S. borders that had any role in directing him, inspiring him or assisting him in any way — and that includes foreign governments.”
“Additionally, the FBI engaged with foreign partners who also provided all of the content of those email accounts,” the official continued. “We can say with confidence that there is no communication, there are no emails that Crooks had that we have not been able to access.”
Patel also noted that Crooks’ home was “completely swept.”
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“Every device in the home was collected and accessed fully,” he said. “Reports say that we didn’t get into certain devices? That’s false. We got into all of the devices.”
The FBI officials also addressed recent theories and questions related to an Antifa-linked individual named William Tepes. Crooks and Tepes never spoke to one another directly, though Tepes did respond to Crooks’ online public posting, the feds said.
“Crooks posted on YouTube. Tepes is a Norwegian, nordic resistance member. He simply responded to content Crooks posted,” Patel said.
The global investigation included more than 1,000 interviews, a review of 2,000 tips, and the execution of more than ten search warrants and 100 subpoenas. The feds “specifically analyzed 13 electronic devices that were associated with Crooks and his family members from his home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania,” the official said.
Bongino noted there was no manifesto left from Crooks.
“Dan and I have been on this since we got here eight months ago,” Patel said of the investigation. “We fully briefed the president, as a victim of this case, at the White House, providing him with all of the details of our investigation, and the president was satisfied with the results and where we left it.”
“We are very confident in the outcomes of this investigation,” Bongino said. “We have pulled on every threat. We are absolutely confident, and if information surfaces, please, immediately get it over to us for instant action.”
The deputy director, who is personally close with Trump, stressed that there is no motivation for a coverup, as some online have suggested.
“I would ask the public: What motivation would Kash Patel and Dan Bongino possibly have to hide from their personal friend — not just their boss, the president — information about a crime where he was the victim?” he asked. “I don’t understand what the motivation would be.”
“No one is interested in guilt or innocence, they’re interested in someone to blame,” Bongino said, quoting “A Few Good Men.” “The public is pissed off. We get it. We sympathize with you. It couldn’t have just been this guy — it couldn’t have just been this guy — it is. There is no reason I would tell you otherwise.”
Patel added that pushing conspiracy theories online makes big money.
“As to why people keep coming back to this on social media, the reality is, many people make a lot of money on social media pushing conspiracy theories for clicks,” he said. “That is a fact.”
Responding to accusations from Congress about the FBI not disclosing all pertinent information, Patel said this was also not true, adding that lawmakers have been “fully debriefed.”
“Congress is accusing us of not turning over all of this stuff — but all of this stuff doesn’t exist. It is an empty narrative they’re firing into a vacuum,” Patel said. “The very limited information we have not turned over is respective to victims’ rights. There isn’t some trove of documents that we haven’t sent over there.”
