The FBI has addressed statements from a congressman who alleged that the body of the man who attempted to shoot Donald Trump has “gone” after an unsettling discovery.
Last month, Thomas Matthew Crooks, aged 20, positioned himself on the roof of a building close to where the former president was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Armed, Crooks fired multiple shots in Trump’s direction, with one bullet grazing the former president’s ear.
Security personnel on site quickly neutralized the threat, and Crooks was shot dead. His body was then removed from the scene.
In the incident, volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore lost his life, and two other men sustained serious injuries.
Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins has been assigned to investigate the motives behind the assassination attempt.
Higgins recently disclosed that when he tried to view Crooks’ body on August 5 as part of his investigation, he was informed it wasn’t available.
The former police captain-turned-congressman stated in a report that his request to see the body “caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact.”
The FBI had “released the body for cremation 10 days” following the attempt on Trump’s life.
Higgins revealed that “nobody knew” the body had been returned to the family, including local law enforcement and the county coroner.
As a result, Higgins suggested the FBI might be guilty of “obstruction.”
The congressman wrote: “We will actually never know. Yes, we’ll get the reports and pictures, but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body.
“Similar to releasing the crime scene and scrubbing crime scene biological evidence… This action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction.”
The FBI has responded firmly to Higgins’ claims.
“Any suggestion the FBI is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination which took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, is inaccurate and unfounded,” a spokesperson informed the Daily Mail.
“The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence.
“The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to brief Congress and publish information for the public regarding the ongoing investigation.”