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FBI Director Kash Patel offered some updated information about Thomas Crooks, the suspect who allegedly attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump last year, amid a new documentary from Tucker Carlson that reveals some alarming observations about the deceased 20-year-old.
Patel offered the following statement:
“Over 480 FBI employees were involved in the Thomas Crooks investigation. Employees conducted over 1,000 interviews, addressed over 2,000 public tips, analyzed data extracted from 13 seized digital devices, reviewed nearly 500,000 digital files, collected, processed, and synchronized hundreds of hours of video footage, analyzed financial activity from 10 different accounts, and examined data associated with 25 social media or online forum accounts.”
He said that the FBI’s investigation into Crooks examined more than 20 online accounts and extracted data from multiple devices. He also said the FBI conducted more than 1,000 interviews and fielded 2,000 public tips.
“The investigation, conducted by over 480 FBI employees, revealed Crooks had limited online and in person interactions, planned and conducted the attack alone, and did not leak or share his intent to engage in the attack with anyone,” Patel concluded.
Carlson’s documentary on Crooks – which was released on Friday – has stirred significant discussion about whether the FBI has been withholding information from the public about the near-assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“There is no doubt that Crooks was ripe for recruitment by someone,” Carlson stated in the documentary.
Carlson also alleged that the “FBI clearly knew he existed,” and reported, based on information available to him, that Crooks was in contact with a mysterious figure online, possibly linked to a terrorist group being monitored by the U.S. State Department.
This investigative segment from Carlson has sparked controversy online among those who are less than satisfied with the FBI’s perceived historical lack of transparency on cases like this, particularly in the long-silent investigation of Crooks, which has left the public to speculate endlessly about the suspect’s potential motivations and connections.
Perhaps to curtail online chatter, the FBI created a “Rapid Response” account just ahead of the release of Carlson’s documentary episode about Thomas Crooks.
“Our team continues to face an avalanche of lies, smears, and falsehoods from the fake news and others seeking to undermine our work and national security,” the account stated. “…The days of bad-faith attacks and fake-news narratives are over. Welcome to FBI Rapid Response.”