FBI director casts doubt on whether Trump was struck by bullet during assassination attempt at rally

The FBI's head has formed uncertainty connected whether Donald Trump was struck by a slug during nan effort connected his life astatine a Pennsylvania governmental rally.

Christopher Wray was updating Congress connected nan assassination effort connected Trump successful Butler on Wednesday erstwhile he made nan explosive statement.

'There’s immoderate mobility astir whether aliases not it’s a slug aliases shrapnel that deed his ear,' Wray said.

Wray was addressing information failures that allowed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks to unfastened fire. Crooks, 20, killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, and injured 2 others including Trump during nan shooting.

The statesmanlike hopeful has since fixed extended accounts of nan infinitesimal he was changeable and was seen sporting a bandage complete his ear.

'When I went down, bullets were coming complete my caput and you perceive them, it's for illustration a zip, zip,' he said.

The erstwhile president claims his Secret Service item 'thought it was complete erstwhile I went down' because of 'a batch of humor coming' aft his receptor was grazed.

Trump, 78, based on pinch his agents, telling them really he was 'not going connected a stretcher' and alternatively vowed to 'get up'.

He added that a past infinitesimal move of nan caput to glimpse astatine a surface is what saved him from nan bullet. 

'I'm expected to beryllium dead. The astir unthinkable point was that I happened to not only turn, but to move astatine nan nonstop correct clip and successful conscionable nan correct amount,' he added, saying he survived 'by luck aliases by God'. 

Trump tuned into Wray's testimony, which besides saw him item really Crooks had researched nan assassination of President John F. Kennedy anterior to nan shooting.

The gunman did a Google hunt 1 week anterior of 'How acold distant was Oswald from Kennedy?' according to Wray, who said nan fishy he said had taken a keen liking successful nationalist figures but had different not near down clear clues of an ideological motive.

The July 6 online search, recovered from a laptop nan FBI says is tied to Crooks, is simply a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, nan shooter who killed Kennedy from a sniper's perch successful Dallas connected Nov. 22, 1963.

'That's a hunt evidently that is important successful position of his authorities of mind. That is nan aforesaid time that it appears that he registered' for nan Trump rally, Wray told nan House Judiciary Committee.

The FBI is investigating nan shooting arsenic an act of home terrorism.

The investigation has thrust nan bureau into a governmental maelstrom months earlier nan statesmanlike election, pinch lawmakers and nan nationalist pressing for specifications astir what whitethorn person motivated Crooks.

'We do not cognize nan motive. That is evidently 1 of nan cardinal questions successful our investigation, and it's been very frustrating to america that a batch of nan accustomed benignant of low-hanging-fruit places that we would find that person not yielded important clues astir his motive,' Wray said. 

The proceeding had been scheduled good earlier nan shooting arsenic portion of nan committee’s regular oversight of nan FBI and nan Justice Department.

Questions astir nan shooting dominated nan session, but different topics included nan FBI’s diverseness efforts, predetermination interference, nan Jan 6, 2021 riot astatine nan U.S. Capitol and whether Wray had personally observed immoderate cognitive diminution successful meetings pinch Biden anterior to his determination to retreat from nan election.

His reply that he had not witnessed immoderate issues pinch nan president's intelligence authorities near Trump unimpressed, pinch nan Republican nominee calling for Wray to resign.

'I watched nan Congressional Hearing coming arsenic Christopher Wray was asked nan mobility whether aliases not he noticed immoderate Cognitive Degeneration successful his galore conversations pinch Crooked Joe Biden,' Trump wrote connected Truth Social Wednesday.

'Wray should resign instantly from nan FBI, and extremity 'sweet talking' Congress each clip he goes up, which he loves to do, because anybody tin spot that Joe Biden is cognitively and physically challenged.

 'And if you can't spot that, you judge arsenic hellhole can't beryllium moving nan FBI - Unless, that is, you want to illegally lead nan Raid connected Mar-a-Lago. Wray has to resign, and NOW, for LYING TO CONGRESS!'

The FBI was not progressive successful ensuring information for nan rally and has truthful avoided nan aforesaid level of scrutiny directed astatine nan Secret Service complete nan lapses that preceded nan event. 

On Tuesday, Kimberly Cheatle resigned arsenic nan agency’s director amid mounting questions complete her nan colossal information failures astatine nan rally.

Cheatle took work for nan catastrophic lapses aft she was lambasted by Republicans and Democrats alike erstwhile she appeared earlier Congress connected Monday.

The security main had faced mounting questions complete why an supplier was not stationed connected nan tile from wherever Crooks opened occurrence connected nan erstwhile president, and why Trump was allowed to return nan shape moreover erstwhile a threat was detected.

Crooks had been identified arsenic a suspicious personification hours earlier nan shooting took place.

He was changeable dormant by a sniper but not earlier he was capable to discharge a volley of bullets into nan crowd. 

Wray said Crooks utilized mechanical instrumentality connected nan crushed and vertical piping, to hoist himself up onto nan tile of a squat manufacturing building that was wrong 135 meters (157 yards) of nan stage. 

He fired 8 shots from an AR-style firearm earlier he was killed. 

The Warren Commission study that analyzed nan Kennedy assassination assessed that Kennedy had been changeable done nan cervix astatine a scope of 174.9 feet to 190.8 feet.