Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as investigators dig into the assassination attempt that left the former president wounded and fueled a political firestorm.
Trump will participate in what is known as a victim interview, said Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Kevin Rojek, who is overseeing the inquiry into the July 13 shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
“The interview with the former president will be consistent with any other victim interviews that we do,” Rojek said in a briefing with reporters Monday. “We want to get his perspective on what he observed, just like any other witness to the crime, as well as get his perspective on what occurred to him during that event.”
U.S. officials have said the shooter was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by the Secret Service. Crooks used foreign-based encrypted email apps before the attack, mainly to make anonymous purchases, Rojek said.
“We believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities,” Rojek said.
Crooks also did online searches for several national officials, including President Joe Biden and other former presidents, said Rojek, who is in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office that is leading the investigation.
The FBI has started releasing more details of of its probe, which is ongoing. Christopher Wray, the bureau’s director, told lawmakers last week that Crooks used encrypted messaging apps and flew a surveillance drone over the area where the shooting took place.
In addition to the FBI’s investigation, lawmakers have launched probes of their own. Crooks’ ability to access a rooftop with a clear line of sight to Trump, the Republican nominee in this year’s presidential race, has sparked searing bipartisan criticism and has become a political talking point in a fiery election campaign.
Crooks also searched for information on power plant operations, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minster earlier this year, Rojek said.
Crooks also made six online purchases in the first half of 2024 of chemicals in order to build explosive devices, he added.
Investigators have not yet identified a motive behind the shooting or any evidence that Crooks had any co-conspirators. Investigators continue to do an analysis of his actions and the state of his mental health.
Behavioral analysis has rated Crooks as being highly intelligent but socially isolated, according to the findings.
“We do still believe that he was a loner,” Rojek said.
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