Former President Donald Trump has recently posted a controversial conspiracy theory suggesting that the FBI had prior knowledge of—or even orchestrated—the assassination attempt against him. This theory emerged after Trump was injured in a shooting on July 13, which also led to the death of his supporter Corey Comperatore, who died shielding his family.
The incident triggered widespread criticism of the Secret Service, resulting in the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. FBI Director Christopher Wray also testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the shooting, which occurred despite warnings to both Secret Service agents and local police.
In his late-night posts on Truth Social, Trump shared a provocative meme questioning what FBI Director Wray knew about the incident. The meme, which included a photo of Wray with a caption asking, “WHAT DID YOU KNOW AND WHEN DID YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?,” suggested that the FBI might have been involved in or had advance knowledge of the assassination attempt.
The July 24 hearing revealed that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had flown a drone around the rally location hours before the shooting. Wray testified that the FBI had recovered the drone and was analyzing it. He noted that the drone was found in Crooks’ vehicle, along with its controller. According to Wray, Crooks had flown the drone for about 11 minutes around the area where the shooting occurred, though not directly over the stage where Trump would later speak. The FBI also believed that Crooks was likely live-streaming the drone footage.
Wray testified that the FBI had “recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used,” which was “being exploited and analyzed by the FBI lab.” The drone was in the shooter’s vehicle along with its controller during the shooting, and it was recovered there by officials investigating the scene.
He added that it appeared that Crooks had flown the drone for about 11 minutes around “3:50 pm, 4:00 pm, in that window, on the day of the shooting” around the area, not the stage itself where Trump would speak roughly two hours later, but the vicinity “about 200 yards, give or take, away from that.”
The FBI believed Crooks had been live streaming to view the footage, said Wray, noting that conclusion was “qualified because of our ongoing review.”
