FBI: Would-Be Trump Assassin’s Emails to County Sheriff’s Office Revealed

Newly released Biden-era FBI documents obtained by Judicial Watch reveal that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, had emailed a local sheriff’s department before the July 13, 2024 attack.

The records, secured through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Justice Department and FBI, include summaries of interviews with law enforcement personnel who responded to the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally.

One of the most notable details in the documents is that a deputy with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office had exchanged two emails with Crooks before the attack.

That information was not publicly released during the remainder of President Biden’s term, raising new questions about what federal officials knew, when they knew it, and why key details surrounding the assassination attempt remained buried until watchdog litigation forced disclosure.

According to an FBI electronic communication dated July 17, 2024, investigators interviewed five sheriff’s deputies the day before. During that process, one deputy said she did not initially realize she had previously communicated with Crooks when his identity was publicly reported after the shooting.

The records show investigators reviewed those contacts as part of a broader effort to reconstruct Crooks’ movements, communications, and interactions before the attempted assassination. The released documents do not indicate that the deputy had advance knowledge of Crooks’ plans or intentions.

The deputy told investigators she became aware of the connection only after receiving an inquiry from a New York Times reporter in the days following the attack. That request led her to search her email records to determine whether she had ever interacted with Crooks.

According to the FBI interview summary, the deputy found two emails from Crooks in her inbox.

The contents of those emails remain hidden from the public because the relevant sections of the released records are redacted.

The deputy reportedly told investigators that her contact with Crooks was limited only to those email exchanges. She said she had never met him and had not communicated with him in any other capacity.

The FBI documents offer little additional clarity about the correspondence. Key details, including when the emails were sent, what they concerned, and why Crooks contacted the sheriff’s office employee, remain undisclosed in the materials released to the public.

The records are part of a broader collection of investigative documents obtained by Judicial Watch after it sued the Justice Department and FBI.

Judicial Watch originally filed its Freedom of Information Act request in July 2024, seeking records tied to Thomas Matthew Crooks and the July 13 assassination attempt against President Trump. The request included investigative reports, witness interviews, internal communications, and other law enforcement documents.

The records were released only after the watchdog group pursued legal action to compel federal agencies to respond.

The document production also includes an FBI FD-302 interview summary involving a medic assigned to the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, which assisted at the rally.

According to the interview summary, the medic arrived at the Butler County fairgrounds around 9 a.m. on July 13 and was assigned to provide medical coverage for the event.

After the shooting, which injured President Trump in his right ear and killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore, the medic was directed to the nearby American Glass Research building. Investigators later determined that Crooks had positioned himself on a rooftop there before opening fire.

The FBI summary states that the medic reached the roof of the AGR building by using a collapsible ladder and arrived at approximately 6:23 p.m., shortly after law enforcement had secured the area.

After assessing Crooks, the medic found no carotid pulse and officially pronounced him dead at 6:25 p.m.

The summary says Crooks was found lying face down on the rooftop, restrained with flex-cuffs, with a rifle positioned nearby.

The interview summary also describes items recovered at the scene. According to the medic’s account, a Washington County SWAT officer searched Crooks’ right pocket and recovered a cellular phone along with a gray electronic device that had numbered push buttons and an antenna.

For conservatives, the newly released documents only deepen concerns about transparency, accountability, and the Biden administration’s handling of one of the most serious security failures in modern American political history.

The fact that these records surfaced only after litigation from a watchdog group will likely fuel more questions about whether federal agencies were fully forthcoming with the public after the attempt on President Trump’s life.

At a time when Americans are already demanding answers about government competence, political violence, and the protection of presidential candidates, the FBI’s redactions and delayed disclosures make one thing clear: the public still has not been given the full story.