Sen. Johnson now openly questioning the “lone gunman” claim pushed by the Secret Service and FBI
By isabelle // 2024-07-25
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As the mystery of what really happened on the day that someone fired shots at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania deepens, one senator has added to the growing doubts that a lone 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was responsible for the assassination attempt. In an interview, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) shared his belief that multiple shooters and weapons were involved in the incident. “Was it one rifle? Was it more than one? I’ve seen some pretty interesting video on the internet by experts that certainly calls into question what the FBI’s telling us about a single shooter,” he told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “You know, I saw an extremely convincing video online, I know it’s all over the place. There were three distinct shots early on followed by another five in more staccato – more rapidly fired – and then the final one which we believe took the shooter out,” he said, adding that those behind the video have concluded that at least three different weapons were fired. Unfortunately, he doesn’t think we’ll get any real answers if we rely on the Secret Service, telling Bartiromo that “we can’t trust the FBI and Secret Service to do an honest and open, transparent investigation. That’s just a very sad fact. We’ve got to rely on other sources, independent, to really find out what the truth of the matter was on Saturday, July 13th.” Bartiromo asked him about reports that local law enforcement took pictures of Crooks’ dead body after he was fatally shot by the Secret Service. He said that they were instructed to send their photos to an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). However, he said that the ATF agent has since “gone dark.” Sen. Johnson is currently heading up an investigation into the shooting and asked for those who were present to come forward, setting up a tip line to process leads. The committee released their preliminary findings this week, which are based on initial information that they gathered in interviews with federal, state and local government entities and private companies. They found that the Secret Service failed to attend a security briefing that was held on the morning of the shooting to keep local sniper and swat teams up to date; representatives from multiple local units met and discussed the event's security perimeter and the areas that each local unit would be responsible for, as well as sniper locations. Another failing they identified was the fact that local law enforcement reported that their communications were separated from those of the Secret Service and they were not in frequent direct contact with them throughout the day. Interestingly, the Secret Service did not originally plan to provide them with sniper units but later changed their plans for reasons that have not yet come to light. It is also unknown why the Secret Service did not have anyone in attendance at the briefing.

Secret Service director was evasive in House Oversight Committee testimony

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was grilled by the House Oversight Committee on Monday over the agency’s handling of the rally and the shooting. In an exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), she admitted the shooting was a “colossal failure" that could have been prevented but became cagey when asked if they had been forthcoming in sharing evidence. “Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15th? Yes or no?” Mace asked. Cheatle replied: “I would have to get back to you.” Mace was quick to call her out on her evasiveness, retorting: “That is a no. You're full of s-- today. You're just being completely dishonest.” Sources for this article include: X.com FoxNews.com FoxNews.com
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