FBI Denies Tucker Carlson's Claim About Trump Shooter
The FBI responded within 50 minutes via its newly launched Rapid Response X account, stating, "This FBI has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever."
Tucker Carlson accused the FBI on November 13, 2025, of lying about the online footprint of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, claiming the agency had stated Crooks left no digital trace. In a post on X, Carlson wrote, "The FBI told us Thomas Crooks tried to kill Donald Trump last summer but somehow had no online footprint. The FBI lied, and we can prove it because we have his posts. The question is why? Story tomorrow." He followed with a 34-minute podcast episode on November 14, unveiling what he described as authenticated social media posts from Crooks' accounts, portraying a radical shift from Trump support in 2019 to anti-Trump rhetoric by February 2020, including comments calling Trump backers "brainwashed, dumb, and racist."
The FBI responded within 50 minutes via its newly launched Rapid Response X account, stating, "This FBI has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever." The account, created on November 13 with its first post that day, emphasized transparency under Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified in July 2024 that investigators identified a dormant social media account linked to Crooks from 2019-2020, containing about 700 comments with extremist themes, including antisemitic posts, anti-immigration views, and endorsements of political violence. The bureau also documented Crooks' escalated searches in the months before the attempt, including explosives, Trump's schedule, and the 1963 JFK assassination (query: "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?").
A CBS News investigation in July 2025, based on a public records request for Crooks' college wireless network data, revealed nearly a year of activity: hundreds of visits to news sites, weapons forums, gaming platforms, encrypted services, and social media. Key patterns included December 6, 2023, browsing White House archives from Trump's first term followed by firearms sites; January 24, 2024, with 1,364 internet requests and consistent VPN use; and spikes in weapons interest in his final year, including purchasing a rifle from his father in 2023 and visiting a rifle range over 40 times. NBC News reported Crooks joined the Clairton Sportsmen's Club and expanded encryption to obscure activity.
The incident grazed Trump's ear, killed volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, and injured another attendee; Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers. Over 480 FBI employees conducted the probe, interviewing 1,000 people, addressing 2,000 tips, and analyzing 500,000 digital files from 13 seized devices. Six Secret Service agents were suspended in July 2025 for security lapses. Carlson questioned ignored warnings about a suspicious rooftop figure and accused the FBI of selective disclosure to mislead on Crooks' motives, which remain unclear absent a manifesto. The FBI has not released full details, citing ongoing reviews.
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