Senator Johnson Subpoenas FBI Over Trump Assassination Attempt Records

Sen. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has subpoenaed FBI Director Kash Patel for all investigative records tied to the 13 July 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The order, issued late last week, seeks the bureau’s 302 interview notes, body-camera footage and other materials Johnson says his panel has repeatedly requested without success. Johnson contends the FBI and Department of Justice have stalled the inquiry, leaving Congress “not an inch closer” to establishing why gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The senator’s frustration mirrors that of victims’ families and lawmakers who say key evidence remains sealed more than a year after the attack. The shooting grazed Trump’s ear, killed firefighter Corey Comperatore and critically wounded spectators Jake Dutch and James Copenhaver before a Secret Service sniper fatally shot Crooks. A bipartisan interim Senate report last September blamed Secret Service planning and communication failures for the security breach; agency director Kimberly Cheatle resigned soon after, but no disciplinary action against personnel has been disclosed. Johnson’s subpoena underscores mounting pressure on federal agencies to release their findings. Relatives of the victims and several lawmakers argue that without full transparency—especially on classified threat intelligence reportedly received ten days before the rally—the public cannot assess accountability for one of the most consequential security failures in recent U.S. political history.