GOP Rep Slams FBI For Releaseing Trump Shooter's Body For Cremation Ahead Of Crime Scene Investigation And Cleanup

The FBI is again under fire for activities related to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July.

US Representative Clay Higgins denounced the decision to release the body of shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks to his family just days after the July 13 Pennsylvania rally. The Louisiana Republican revealed he learned of the “disturbing” move when he asked to examine the body in Butler, where the rally was held.

“My overall mission was to personally observe and investigate the available crime scene, along with consideration of anticipated and unanticipated interactions with witnesses, the crime scene landscape, hard evidence, evidence corroborative and circumstantial evidence,” Higgins said. he wrote in his “Preliminary Investigation Report” for the July 13 Congressional Task Force.

The four-term congressman wanted to investigate the accuracy of the coroner's report and the autopsy.

This preliminary investigative report reflects my determination to deliver the full truth to the American people.https://t.co/0dqew07iZk

— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) August 15, 2024

“My effort to examine Crooks' body on Monday, August 5th caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact…the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days later (July 13th) ” he told the bipartisan committee investigating security lapses surrounding the shooting that injured Trump, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. Retired firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, died when he getting hit trying to protect his family from bullets.

“At J23, Crooks was missing. No one knew until Monday, August 5, including the county coroner, law enforcement, the sheriff, etc.,” Higgins noted.

BREAKING

Clay Higgins releases report on President Trump's assassination attempt

In it, he says the FBI cleaned up the crime scene, burned Crooks' body in order to keep us from knowing the truth. pic.twitter.com/Di00a7JDGT

— @Chicago1Ray (@Chicago1Ray) August 16, 2024

The FBI's actions were criticized “as an obstruction to any further investigative efforts,” the lawmaker wrote, noting that the Butler County Coroner “would never have released Crooks' body to the family for to cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI.”

“We'll never really know. Yes, we'll get the reports and pictures and so forth, but I can never say for sure that those reports and pictures are accurate based on my own examination of the body,” Higgins noted.

He also criticized the agency for “unheard of” actions in investigations.

“The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which is unheard of,” Higgins wrote. “Cops don't do that, ever.”

“I interviewed several first responders who expressed everything from shock to dismay to suspicion that the FBI released the crime scene so soon after J13,” the GOP lawmaker said.

America… every question will be answered, every theory explored, every doubt cleared.
Have faith my brothers and sisters. The truth will come out. pic.twitter.com/d6PWRnleZC

— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) August 5, 2024

Higgins noted that the FBI was not uninformed when it made the controversial decisions.

“It should be noted that the FBI was fully aware that Congress would investigate J13,” he wrote. “The FBI does not exist in a vacuum. They should have known that releasing the J13 crime scene would harm the immediate observations of any subsequent investigation.”

Crooks had been “perfectly positioned (on the roof) to minimize the threat of counterfire from the ground or US Secret Service counter-sniper teams,” Higgins noted.

He added that the 20-year-old shooter “effectively minimized the profile of his head and upper body” as he fired eight shots.

“The 9th shot fired at J13 was by a Butler SWAT operator from the ground about 100 yards from the AGR building. The 9th shot hit Crooks' rifle and fragmented his face/neck/area of the right shoulder due to material breaking,” Higgins explained, calling the SWAT operator who fired that shot “all bad.”

“The tenth (and, I believe, final) shot was fired from the USSS's southern counter-sniper team,” the report states. “Which, according to my research, entered somewhere in the left mouth area and exited the right ear area.”

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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