The head of the FBI has made a shocking claim that former President Donald Trump may not have been hit by a live bullet when a gunman tried to kill him at a political rally.
He may have been injured by shrapnel.
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, that it is not clear what caused the injury to Trump's ear during the shooting. NY Post.
“In the case of former President Trump, there is a question of whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Mr. Wray said in response to a question from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
Mr. Jordan asked about the eight shots fired by the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, at a protest in Pennsylvania on July 13.
“We know very clearly that (Corey) Comperatore was killed, two other people were injured, and then the one that hit President Trump,” Mr Jordan said before asking: “Where did all eight bullets go?”
At the time of the shooting, there was some debate about whether Mr. Trump had been hit by a bullet or, for example, broken glass. A photo has emerged of a bullet hitting Mr Trump.
Mr Trump's team blasted Thursday's surprise announcement as a conspiracy.
“Anyone who believes this bulls**t is either demented or deliberately peddling lies for political reasons,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said. The New York Post.
“We see nothing too deep for the Biden-Harris administration. So it is not surprising that they are doing it now,” he added.
Trump attacked the FBI director
The FBI director's comments contradicted the Republican nominee's account of the near-fatal experience, which he described as a “pretty sure experiment” that “presumably” killed him.
“The doctors at the hospital said they had never seen anything like this, they called it a miracle,” Mr Trump said a day after the rally shooting.
“I shouldn't be here, I'm dead.”
Mr. Trump also recalled avoiding the chaotic scene of Secret Service agents despite wanting to continue his speech.
“I wanted to speak, but I was just shot,” he said.
Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers seconds after he fired eight shots into the crowd.
Mr Trump, 78, also attacked Mr Wray on social media, accusing the FBI director, whom he hired in 2017, of “sweet talking” the committee about his concerns about President Joe Biden's decline.
“I watched a Congressional hearing today where Christopher Wray was asked if he noticed cognitive impairment in many of his conversations with Crooked Joe Biden,” Mr. Trump said.
“[D]Despite the fact that Special Counsel Robert Hur has said, effectively, that Joe Biden is NOT WORKING, with LITTLE MEMORY, etc., Wray said that 'it's not something I looked into. during my interaction with him, which was uneventful and unremarkable,' in fact he did not see anything wrong with 'Joe,' mentally or physically,” the former president continued.
“If that is the case, Director Wray should resign from the FBI immediately,” Mr. Trump said.
The former president asserted that “anyone can see that Joe Biden has mental and physical problems, and if you can't see it, you certainly can't run the FBI”.
Many Republicans have accused the Biden administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, of running a cover-up to hide the president's decline from the public.
Biden, 81, announced on Sunday that he would end his re-election bid despite calls to drop out of the race due to health concerns.
However, he vowed to remain in office until the end of his term.
This article was originally published in The New York Post with permission.
