Milwaukee City Wire

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has issued a subpoena to FBI Director Kash Patel for records related to the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"One year following the assassination attempt of President Trump, the American people still do not have answers to all of their questions about the breakdown of security at the Butler campaign rally and detailed information about the would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks. I had expected the FBI to be more forthcoming with the public and provide my office with the records we have been seeking for months. I am issuing the subpoena to help prompt transparency and I look forward to Director Patel’s full cooperation," Sen. Johnson stated.

The subpoena asks for several types of documents from the FBI, including security camera footage that could show Crooks’ movements before the shooting; forensic reports covering ballistics, trajectory, explosives, and drone analysis; as well as records regarding Crooks' social media activity, email accounts, search history, call logs, and other communications.

Sen. Johnson began investigating security issues at the Butler rally immediately after last year's incident. On July 14, 2024 he requested records from federal agencies about Thomas Crooks and event security. He later released preliminary findings on July 21 and July 23, followed by updated timelines on July 30 and August 29 detailing law enforcement’s awareness of Crooks.

On September 25, Senators Johnson, Rand Paul, Gary Peters, and Richard Blumenthal released an interim report outlining failures in rally security and listing outstanding requests tied to the assassination attempt.

The deadline set by Senator Johnson's subpoena is August 1, 2025. The full text of the subpoena is available online.

Senator Johnson has held his seat since winning election victories in Wisconsin over Mandela Barnes in 2022 (50.4% vs. 49.4%), Russ Feingold in both 2016 (50.2% vs. 46.8%) and in his first race in 2010 (51.9% vs. 47%).