By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz and Devan Cole, CNN
(CNN) — Donald Trump’s possible killer sought out the main points of John F. Kennedy from his computer and flew a drone into the domain near the rally just two hours before the former president took the stage, FBI Director Christopher Wray said. Wednesday. Training
The startling revelations are the latest details in the investigation that came to light this week at congressional hearings on Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
At the wide-ranging House Judiciary Committee hearing, Wray also said that investigators Thomas Matthew Crooks was using a gun with a folding inventory and that he accessed the roof of the building by climbing, not a ladder.
The hearing included a lot of politics, as Republicans discussed Vice President Kamala Harris while seeking to link the presumptive Democratic nominee to border policy and other actions, and Democrats asked Wray several times about the 2025 project.
Here are the key takeaways from Wednesday’s hearing:
According to the FBI’s investigation into Crooks’ laptop, Crooks looked up how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was when he shot Kennedy in 1963.
The search took place on July 6, the day he registered to attend the rally.
“On July 6, he did a Google search: ‘how far is Oswald from Kennedy,'” Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.
“These are studies that are evident in terms of their state of mind,” the FBI director added. “This is the same day he appears to have signed up for Butler’s meeting. “
Wray revealed that “around four o’clock in the afternoon,” Crooks “flew the drone around the area” of the rally, about two hundred yards from the stage.
The drone stayed in the air for about 11 minutes and Crooks researchers watched a live feed from the drone on his phone. CNN had reported in the past that the drone was discovered in his car after the shooting.
In addition, Crooks had two explosives in his car at the time of the shooting and one in his home, but he likely did not have the ability to detonate them from the roof where he killed, Wray testified.
“It turns out that because of the on/off position of the receivers, if I had tried to fly those devices from the roof, it wouldn’t have worked,” Wray said.
Wray said investigators were able to “reconstruct the drone’s flight path from the day of the meeting” and now the drone footage “would have shown [the shooter] what would have been behind him. “
“It was almost like giving him a rearview mirror of the scene,” Wray said.
The FBI is investigating the shooting, either as an assassination attempt or as a possible act of domestic terrorism. FBI officials continually claimed that they believed Crooks had acted alone, and Wray reiterated that there is no evidence of co-conspirators.
Investigators say Crooks fired an AR-style rifle about eight times at the former president before killing him via a United States Secret Service sniper.
The rifle used through Crooks was purchased from his father, Wray said.
“The weapon that he used for the attempted murder was an AR-type rifle that was purchased legally, that he, from what I perceive, acquired, I believe he purchased it from his father, who originally purchased it,” Wray said.
Previously, officials said they believed the gun belonged to Crooks’ father, the shooter, and that they knew how Crooks accessed the gun.
“I’ve been saying for some time now that we live in a high-threat environment,” Wray said. “The shooter may have died, but the FBI investigation is ongoing. “
Investigators tested the shooter’s phone and computer, reviewed his search history and his bedroom and interviewed his circle of family and friends, but struggled to identify what motivated the 20-year-old killer to act.
The scammers also had no prior contact with the FBI, officials say, and in the past they were not on their radar or in their databases.
The FBI believes Crooks used appliances and pipes in the construction to climb onto the roof where he shot Trump.
“We know that the subject climbed to the roof using mechanical devices on the floor and vertical pipes on the side of the AGR building,” Wray said. “In other words, we don’t believe he used a ladder to get up there. “
The FBI, according to Wray, showed that Crooks had in the past purchased a ladder of approximately five feet.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said Tuesday that Crooks remained on the roof for about three minutes before shooting Trump.
As Wray said, GOP members prompted the FBI director to talk about all the meetings he had with Harris during her tenure as vice president, a notable factor now that she is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Questions ranged from whether Wray had regular briefings with Harris, how he degraded himself in those meetings and what kind of issues he had voiced his concerns about.
In an exchange, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz asked how Harris attends briefings Wray has with President Joe Biden. Wray declined to answer precisely.
Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany Wray said whether Harris “met with you about the border, or whether she “specifically invited him to a meeting” about the “threats that exist at the border. “
Wray said he had “participated in meetings with the vice president” in which the border was discussed, but declined to discuss meetings or express conversations.
Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartaz also asked about Wray’s border meetings with Harris, asking whether the vice president had “effectively initiated” meetings on a normal basis “as the top border czar. ” Wray responded.
Wray objected to reports that Crooks was searching online for photographs of some prominent public officials, saying it gave the impression that he was searching for news articles.
“It turns out the shooter did a lot of studies on public figures in general, but so far we’re looking at news articles and things like that,” Wray said. He continued: “So what we’re talking about with the symbols that have been reported is that when you do a news search on an article, the symbol appears in a cache, as opposed to a search on this individual express. “
The FBI director warned that efforts were underway to uncover Crooks’ motives, but cautioned that “this is, frankly, a damaging time to be a public official. “
Wray said Wednesday that an FBI worker is under internal investigation for posting something “totally inappropriate” about the attempted assassination of Trump.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy asked the director if “any FBI agents texted, emailed, or expressed sadness that Trump survived the assassination attempt or otherwise published an editorial about the assassination attempt. “
Wray said he was not aware of any official acting out of line, but there had been a case “of an individual posting something that was outrageous, completely out of line and unacceptable. “
“This individual referred to our Inspection Division, which is our type of internal affairs investigation branch that conducts the disciplinary process,” Wray said.
Wray did not specify where the post was posted.
Wray said Wednesday that the FBI has informed U. S. intelligence about an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump, and said law enforcement will most likely face more “boldness” from Iran in the future. .
The director declined to provide details of “specific and classified information” to the committee, but that his company had denounced “the Iranian government’s efforts to attempt to retaliate against the assassination of (Iranian General) Soleimani by targeting current or former senior officials. “U. S. officials. “
“I think we want to acknowledge the boldness of the Iranian regime, adding here in the United States, and I hope we see more of that and I hope there’s more to come,” Wray said.
CNN previously reported that the US government received intelligence from a human source in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to try to assassinate Trump, a development that prompted the Secret Service to beef up security around the former president, several other people said. informed about the matter. CNN. Array There is no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who tried to kill the former president, is connected to the plot, resources said.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff pressed Wray on hiring the agency in an effort to criticize the GOP’s resolve to make Trump, a convicted felon, its 2024 presidential nominee.
“Do FBI applicants have to go through a background check?Schiff asked, to which Wray replied yes.
“Would a user with dozens of felony convictions do a background check for the office?” Schiff said.
“No,” Wray replied.
“So they would never stop by the office?
“No,” Wray repeated.
“Obviously, it has higher recruiting criteria than any of the major American political parties,” Schiff said.
Trump was found guilty earlier this year on 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush money scheme he orchestrated before the 2016 election.
Wray testified that he opposed the idea of the police leader reporting to the president, a proposal pushed by some Trump supporters.
The proposal to restructure the FBI is laid out in Project 2025, the conservative plan for the next Republican president that created in part more than 140 former Trump administration employees. Under this plan, the FBI director would no longer report directly to Justice Department officials. but, instead, he would report to the president.
“I don’t think it’s a sensible approach,” Wray told Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson when asked about the idea.
“I was appointed through President Trump; I respect it. I think he is a component of our structure,” Wray said. “But what worries me is the independence in the way we do our work. And we will have to be able to paint our pictures without political interference. ”
Wray said he had read or reviewed the 2025 draft and commented in particular on it.
This story and its name have been updated with new developments.
The-CNN-Wire™ and © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc. , a Warner Bros. All rights reserved.
News Channel 3-12 is committed to providing a forum for civilized and constructive conversation.
Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can view our network rules by clicking here
If you would like to share an idea for a story, please submit it here.
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Community Guidelines
FCC Public File
EEO Public Record Report
FCC Applications
Don’t sell my information.