The FBI buried the Butler assassination attempt evidence for nearly two years.
Judicial Watch just sued the FBI into releasing 48 pages – and they raise more questions than answers.
What a SWAT officer pulled from Thomas Crooks' pocket after the shooting – and what the FBI is refusing to say about it – changes this story completely.
Judicial Watch FOIA Lawsuit Forces Release of Butler Assassination Attempt Records
Judicial Watch filed its FOIA request in July 2024 – the same month Thomas Matthew Crooks put a bullet through Trump's ear and murdered Corey Comperatore, a father shielding his family from gunfire.
The FBI ignored that request. Judicial Watch sued in July 2025. The 48 heavily redacted pages released this week are the result.
One of those pages summarizes interviews conducted with five Butler County Sheriff's Office deputies on July 16, 2024.
One deputy told investigators she only connected Crooks to her own email records after a New York Times reporter contacted her that Sunday night asking questions. She checked. Two emails from Crooks. Both redacted in their entirety.
The FBI's own summary describes those communications as "unremarkable beyond regular." The same agency that let Crooks climb onto a rooftop 150 yards from the president is the one deciding what the public gets to know.
The Remote Device Found in Thomas Crooks Pocket After the Butler Shooting
The emails aren't the only thing the FBI doesn't want to talk about.
A Beaver County Emergency Services Unit medic was among the first responders on the roof of the American Glass Research building after Crooks was shot dead.
She climbed up using a black collapsible ladder, arrived at 6:23 p.m., checked Crooks' carotid pulse, and pronounced him dead two minutes later.
Then a Washington County SWAT officer searched Crooks' right pocket.
What he found: a gray remote device with numerical push buttons and an antenna – and a cell phone.
Explosive ordnance disposal personnel were called to the roof to examine the device. A police canine hit on the AGR building beneath them. Everyone was told to evacuate.
Crooks' body stayed on the roof. The medic told investigators she didn't know when it was finally removed – she left the scene sometime after 1 a.m.
The FBI's 48 released pages offer zero explanation of what the device was, what it controlled, or whether it worked.
Every Butler Shooting Disclosure Has Come Through a Lawsuit
In February 2026, a separate Judicial Watch lawsuit forced the release of records showing law enforcement had broadcast radio warnings about an "unknown male acting suspiciously" before the shooting – warnings that went nowhere.
In April 2026, additional FOIA-compelled records revealed Crooks had been involved in an altercation near the rally and was overheard making "hateful comments" directed at Trump.
Every one of those disclosures came through litigation. None came voluntarily.
Nearly two years after a former fire chief died at a Trump rally protecting his daughters from an assassin's bullet, the FBI is still blacking out two emails between that assassin and a local law enforcement officer.
No account of a mysterious remote device found in the dead man's pocket. No explanation for why radio warnings about a "questionable subject" near the event perimeter never reached the agents responsible for Trump's security.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the American people deserve full transparency about Thomas Crooks, his contacts, and why key details remain hidden nearly a year later.
Corey Comperatore deserved better. His family deserves answers. So does every American who watched a former president nearly die on a Pennsylvania fairground while the people responsible for protecting him couldn't locate a 20-year-old with a rifle on a rooftop 150 yards away.
The FBI's instinct – even now, under new leadership – is to redact first and explain never.
Sources:
- Tom Fitton, "Judicial Watch: FBI Records Reveal Crooks' Emails with Deputy," Judicial Watch, June 5, 2026.
- Rebeka Zeljko, "FBI Docs Reveal Trump's Would Be Assassin Contacted Butler Officials Before The Attack," Daily Caller, June 5, 2026.
- M. Dowling, "Judicial Watch Release: Crooks Emailed with a Deputy Before the Butler Shooting," Independent Sentinel, June 6, 2026.
