In a rebuttal to mounting skepticism fueled by Tucker Carlson’s explosive probe into the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the FBI declared Friday that shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks operated completely alone, capping an “unprecedented global investigation” that unearthed no accomplices, foreign ties, or hidden directives.
Deputy Director Dan Bongino, speaking exclusively to Fox News Digital from FBI headquarters, dismissed cover-up claims as baseless.
Bongino stated, “We have reviewed this case over and over—looked into every nugget. We have spoken to the families, the president—there is no cover-up here. There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.”
The announcement collides head-on with Carlson’s assertions, where the host accused the bureau of “shocking” lies and obstruction to shield deeper truths about Crooks’ volatile online life and a shadowy Nordic extremist contact.
Crooks, the 20-year-old Bethel Park resident who grazed Trump’s ear with eight .223 rounds from his father’s AR-15-style rifle—killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding two others—left a digital trail the FBI now portrays as mundane teen angst, not a recruitment breadcrumb.
Yet as Bongino and Director Kash Patel vow transparency, Carlson’s evidence of ignored red flags and a rushed cremation keeps the “lone wolf” narrative under fire, echoing Rep. Clay Higgins’ fury: “The coroner would never have released Crooks’ body… without specific permission from the FBI.”
Bongino, the ex-Secret Service agent turned Trump ally, pulled no punches in addressing the rage roiling online since Carlson’s report.
“The rage, the anger, I totally get it. I’m with you. [Trump] is a friend of ours, he was shot in the head on live television—we want an explanation, too… Where is the manifesto? The answer is—it doesn’t exist,” Bongino stated.
Patel briefed Trump personally at the White House: “The president was satisfied with the results and where we left it.” Trump himself told Fox’s Brian Kilmeade: “I have confidence in Kash… and the DOJ, and they are giving me reports, and their reports are seeming to balance out.”
The probe’s scale borders on historic: 485 agents, 1,000+ interviews, 2,000 tips sifted, 10+ search warrants, 100 subpoenas, and a deep dive into 13 devices and 35 accounts—including encrypted foreign emails from Germany and Belgium cracked with international aid.
A senior FBI official told Fox: “We’ve reviewed over 500,000 electronic files… There is no foreign connection in this case. There is no individual… that had any role in directing him, inspiring him or assisting him.”
Carlson’s November 15 special torched the FBI’s initial “no online footprint” claim as fiction, with the host stating “The FBI told us Thomas Crooks tried to kill Donald Trump last summer but somehow had no online footprint. The FBI lied, and we can prove it.”
Carlson unveiled Crooks’ feverish searches: 700+ Trump hits, “how to make napalm,” “Hitler speeches with subtitles,” “Oklahoma bombing,” and rants like “the only way to fight the government is with terrorism-style attacks.” This “long record of espousing violence in public” painted Crooks as “ripe for recruitment,” Carlson argued—not the aimless loner peddled by feds.
Enter “Willie Tepes,” the enigmatic Norwegian tied to the U.S.-monitored Nordic Resistance Movement. Carlson spotlighted their final exchange—Tepes goading Crooks with “The alternative, a global police state is unacceptable”—right as Crooks’ violent posts peaked. “Was this a recruitment? Why did the FBI miss it? Or did they?” Carlson asked.
Bongino and Patel countered: Tepes merely replied to Crooks’ YouTube content, there was no deeper link.
“What motivation would Kash Patel and Dan Bongino possibly have to hide… information about a crime where [Trump] was the victim?” Bongino urged.
No thread tugs harder at conspiracy strings than Crooks’ body, cremated just 10 days after the shooting—mid-congressional stirrings. Carlson seethed: “Why cremate the body so quickly? What are they hiding? This isn’t transparency—it’s a cover-up.”
Bongino fired back, “The FBI did not make the decision to cremate the body. The family did. It was their son… Before the body was released… the FBI collected DNA—fingernails, hair samples, and blood… that remains in FBI evidence.”
The crime scene was returned to the owners after a July 18 cleanup, with Bongino stating “We don’t hold the crime scene forever.”
Carlson’s closing warning still echoes: “They told us he was a loner with no motive. But the evidence shows otherwise. The American people deserve the truth.”
Bongino sympathized: “No one is interested in guilt or innocence, they’re interested in someone to blame. The public is pissed off. We get it… It couldn’t have just been this guy—it is.”
The case sits “pending, inactive”—revivable on new leads. Bongino’s conlcuded, “We are absolutely confident… if information surfaces, please, immediately get it over to us.”
Carlson’s haunting question lingers: “What did the FBI do with this knowledge? Did they monitor him? Did they intervene? Or did they just let it happen?”
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