The body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate Trump, is "gone," a report revealed on Thursday night by a congressman, who accused the FBI of conducting a "scorched earth" investigation, the Daily Mail reported.
Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana and a member of Congress' bipartisan task force reviewing the assassination attempt, sought to inspect Crooks' body on August 5 as part of his own investigation. The former police captain said his request to see the body "created quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact." He then discovered that the FBI had "released the body for cremation 10 days" after the shooting in Butler.
Would be Assassin's Body Cremated
Higgins claims that "nobody knew" the body had been returned to the family, not even the county coroner or local law enforcement. He said that the coroner still had "legal authority over the body" when the FBI made this decision, accusing the agency of "obstruction."
The congressman's report comes amid serious concerns about how the shooting was allowed to occur, with Trump narrowly escaping death and a rally attendee losing his life in what is considered one of the biggest security failures in American history.
Trump's assassination attempt took place on July 13. Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle resigned on July 23. Crooks' body was likely released the same day.
However, many questions remain unanswered, including the lack of a clear motive for 20-year-old Crooks' assassination attempt.
Higgins decided to conduct his own investigation during a "boots on the ground" trip to Butler from August 4 to 6.
His "preliminary investigative report" was submitted to Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA) on August 12 and was publicly released on Higgins' website last night.
In the report, Higgins questions why the FBI released Crooks' body to the family without any proper oversight.
"The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I won't know 100% if the coroner's report and the autopsy report are accurate. We will actually never know," Higgins writes.
"Yes, we'll get the reports and pictures, but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body.
"Again, similar to releasing the crime scene and scrubbing crime scene biological evidence... this action by the FBI can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort."
Bombshell Revelations
Higgins notes that on July 23, the same day Crooks was cremated, both the Homeland Security Committee and the Oversight Committee had launched investigations into the assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson had announced the formation of a congressional investigative body.
"Why, then, by what measure, would the FBI release his body to the family for cremation? This pattern of investigative scorched earth by the FBI is quite troubling," Higgins writes.
Following the release of his report, Higgins declared that he will exhaust every possible lead as he collaborates with his colleagues in the bipartisan group investigating the shooting.
"As I have said, every question will be answered, every theory explored, and every doubt erased. The American people deserve the full truth on the attempted assassination of President Trump," he said.
"Our investigative efforts are moving forward in good faith. The release of my preliminary investigative report is reflective of my desire to deliver transparency and reassurance to the American people."
Before his election to the lower house in 2016, Higgins served as a police officer in Louisiana.
