The FBI and the Biden-Harris administration are engaged in a “major league cover-up of the near-assassination of former President Trump,” Judicial Watch Inc. claimed. on August 12.
The indictment came after the FBI denied Judicial Watch's request for records from the July 13 rally in Pennsylvania in which Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Donald J. Trump.
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI on July 26, seeking documents, emails, filings and other data about the FBI's coordination with the US Secret Service in preparing for the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at which Trump was shot in the ear. The request covered the period from June 15 to the present.
The FBI cited FOIA Exemption 7A, which allows the withholding of information that would “deprive a person of the right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.” He did not elaborate or provide context for the use of this exemption.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the records denial and reasoning raise some pointed questions.
“Were there others involved in the assassination attempt on Trump? If not, why would the FBI use the excuse of protecting someone's right to a fair trial to hide the records of the inexcusable failures of the 'FBI and Secret Service to protect Trump from almost being killed?' Fitton said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration is conducting a major league cover-up of the near-assassination of former President Trump.”
In an email to Blaze News, the FBI's National Press Office declined to comment.
“It is curious that the acting director has not credited local law enforcement.”
It was the second records request denial Judicial Watch has faced in connection with the rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds that led to Trump's wounding, killing of former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore and serious injuries to spectators David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
The Secret Service denied three complete Judicial Watch FOIA requests filed on July 16 seeking advance security plans, videos, emails and documents related to the assassination attempt. In its denial, the Secret Service cited an exemption because “disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
Fitton said Judicial Watch is preparing lawsuits against the FBI and Secret Service to compel the release of the materials. He said Judicial Watch has more than 25 open records requests pending on the July 13 assassination attempt with the federal government, state and local officials and agencies in Pennsylvania.
The scramble for records related to the killings is just the latest attempt to force more transparency in the many investigations launched since July 13.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was criticized by bipartisan US House members for her performance at a July 22 hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
In hours of testimony, Cheatle ducked and deflected many questions, from how many shots Crooks fired into the crowd to why he wasn't considered a threat because of his suspicious behavior. He also revealed that he had not visited the scene of the shooting.
As calls for her ouster grew in Congress after the hearing, Cheatle resigned on July 23 and was replaced by an acting director, Ronald Rowe Jr.
Appearing before a joint hearing of the US Senate on July 30, Rowe appeared to shift the blame for the fatal shooting to local police. He was also criticized for not having basic facts about the shooting available and was reprimanded for saying the Secret Service did not know Crooks was armed until seconds before he opened fire.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Homeland Security Investigations and Governmental Affairs, said the FBI and Secret Service will not come forward.
“The federal [law enforcement] just pasted They're not giving us a lot of information,” Johnson said on August 11 on WABC radio in New York.
“We were informed by local law enforcement who spoke that one of their officers shot Crooks,” Johnson said. “This is not being widely reported. We have asked to speak to this officer to get the details.
“It is curious that the acting director has not given credit [that] Local law enforcement had fired shots that could have deterred or ended this shooting,” Johnson said.
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