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When one of the more senior Senate Democrats sounds the alarm bell regarding governmental failures, it says something — particularly if it involves former President Donald Trump (and I don't mean in a way that's critical of him). According to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the American people are going to be "shocked, appalled, astonished" when they see the interim report that lawmakers plan to release shortly regarding the July 13 assassination attempt on the former president. //
However, he did say that he believes there needs to be more accountability. "Without accountability, this kind of failure and lapse will happen again." //
Hallen
7 hours ago
Wow. If he's saying that, it means it's bad and there's no way for them to spin it. He's getting out in front of it so the stink doesn't land on him. That means it's the administration's fault which means it's the fault of Democrats.
It may be months before we know the whole story behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. It may be years. We may never know. (Sadly, my money's on the latter.) There are times when the "public's right to know" just seems to slip through our fingers, and this may well be one of those times. We can hope not — but there are murmurings now of evidence tampering. That last is a big, serious assertion — but on Monday, a SWAT counter-sniper who was on the scene testified at a panel discussion held by five Republican members of Congress about an "odd pattern" of evidence handling. //
Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer said it was “absolutely” concerning that the roof of the AGR International building had been quickly scrubbed and gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ body disposed of before an official autopsy report could be released. //
And another thing: Is it normally the role of the FBI to clean up crime scenes? Several companies in Pennsylvania specialize in hazardous materials removal and crime scene cleanup — are those kinds of contractors, not the usual people to clean up the aftermath of a scene like this?
There's more; the examination of Crooks' personal effects also raises some interesting questions. //
The encrypted communications seem like the biggest question. You can probably find directions on improvised explosives on the internet, if you know where to look, although I admit detonators would be a bit trickier. But encrypted communications platforms? Based in Belgium, Germany, and New Zealand? What platforms? What kind of platforms? What was sent and received by Crooks? Was he seeking information? Was he awaiting direction? If so, from whom? //
Mr. Fox
3 hours ago
I never considered myself a conspiracy theorist pre 2016...but after the fbi (and intel agencies en masse) lied to courts to spy on trump, leaked false stories to spin their spying as wrongdoing by trump, "investigated" russian collusion as a way to hide their wrongdoing and besmirch trump, trained and staged kidnapping plots on two democrat governors weeks before an election, planted fake bombs on jan 6, had plants in the crowd encouraging violence and lawlessness, raided trumps home leading to comical criminal indictments that the current president was actual guilty of....would any one be suprised if the fbi, cia, or ss trained this guy and let him get a shot off? Its a sad time in America.
I don't know a ton about Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), but I do know he has a background in law enforcement, so including him on the bipartisan task force investigating the J13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump seems like a sound decision. As one of 13 congressional members assigned to the task force, Higgins has been delving into the incident — had, in fact, already been investigating it personally prior to his appointment to the task force.
On August 12, Higgins filed a preliminary report to the task force Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA), whose district encompasses the Butler County Fairgrounds (commonly referred to as "Butler Farm") where the incident occurred. The report was initially embargoed but on Thursday, was authorized for release. //
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The Secret Service (USSS) had never assigned a counter-sniper team to a former POTUS before J13. [What about presidential candidates/nominees?]
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Butler County tactical command had set aside radios for USSS to use for the event in the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) command post RV and reminded the USSS counter-sniper teams to pick them up, but they were never retrieved by USSS.
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The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which, according to Higgins, "is unheard of. Cops don’t do that, ever."
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The FBI released Crooks’ body to his family for cremation on July 23. No one else knew about this until August 5.
Kylie Jane Kremer
@KylieJaneKremer
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
Matthew Crook’s body is GONE
@RepClayHiggins
requested to examine the assassin’s body and was told it was released to the family by the FBI.
Nobody even knew his body was gone until August 5, including the Butler County Coroner, LEO, and the Butler County Sheriff.
Crooks was cremated on July 23, just 10 days after the assassination attempt.
All roads keep leading back to alphabet agencies being involved and/or covering up what actually happened in Butler, PA when President Trump was shot.
8:13 PM · Aug 15, 2024
- “[T]his action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort.” //
The key takeaway from this, in my view, is that the USSS didn't avail themselves of available radios, which would have allowed them to be in direct communication with the local law enforcement personnel with whom they were supposed to be coordinating and, more importantly, the FBI moved very quickly to clear the personnel, clear the crime scene, and clear the shooter's body, even while knowing that there were ongoing investigations and would be follow-on investigations. Why were they in such a hurry? How are we supposed to feel reassured that they are conducting and will conduct a thorough, honest investigation?