FBI fires back at claims it released Crooks' body for cremation days after Trump assassination attempt

The FBI has fired back at claims by a GOP congressman that the agency released the body of Thomas Matthew Crooks for cremation just 10 days after his assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.

The agency says it refutes allegations by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who says that when he requested to view Crooks' body on Aug. 5, nobody on the ground in Butler knew it had been handed back to the suspect's family on July 23. Higgins said the revelation "caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact."

Higgins, a former police chief, is looking into the deadly July 13 incident as part of a bi-partisan congressional task force and made the claims in a stunning preliminary report which is highly critical of the FBI’s investigation into the matter. Higgins says the releasing of the body, and other claims of bad practice leveled at the FBI, amounts to an "obstruction to any following investigative effort."

The FBI has snapped back against claims it released Thomas Matthew Crooks' body for cremation just 10 days after the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Former President Donald Trump, left, Thomas Matthew Crooks, bottom right, GOP congressman Clay Higgins, top left.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images, main, Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, top right, Fox News, bottom right.)

An FBI spokesperson tells Fox News Digital that any suggestion the agency is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination "is inaccurate and unfounded."

The agency said that Crooks' body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner's office as well as state and local law enforcement partners "in keeping with normal procedures."

Higgins, a former police captain, said that he visited Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month to investigate the crime scene and that when he asked to view Crooks’ body, he discovered that it "was gone." 

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"My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact . . . the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13 [July 13]," Higgins writes in the report sent to task force chairperson Mike Kelly, R-Pa.

"Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc," Higgins writes. "Yes, Butler County Coroner technically had legal authority over the body, but I spoke with the Coroner, and he would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI."

Furthermore, Higgins writes that the coroner’s report and autopsy report are both "late," and as of Aug. 5, they were a week late. 

Higgins says that the problem with him not being able to examine Crooks’ body is that he won’t know for sure if the coroner’s report and the autopsy report are accurate. 

"We will actually never know. Yes, we’ll get the reports and pictures, etc., 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," Higgins writes.

As well as the release of Crooks’ body, Higgins also panned the FBI for releasing the crime scene after three days, "much to everyone’s surprise."

Higgins said they did this despite it being common knowledge that Congress would be investigating the shooting, which resulted in Trump being struck in the ear. Crooks killed highly regarded local firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was trying to shield his daughters from the gunfire, while two other victims suffered life-threatening injuries but are expected to make a full recovery.

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"They had to know that releasing the J13 crime scene would injure the immediate observations of any following investigation," Higgins writes. 

Higgins also alleges that the FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which he says is "unheard of." 

"Cops don’t do that, ever," Higgins writes.

But the FBI also hit back against those claims, telling Fox News Digital that the crime scene was released to the property owners in phases and that "nothing was rushed and everything was documented as part of the investigation."

The FBI also says it arranged for the cleaning of the location where Crooks died, which is in keeping with standard procedures.

"The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence," the FBI says in the statement. "The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to brief Congress and publish information for the public regarding the ongoing investigation."

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, 2024.  (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

The preliminary report also sheds more light onto the shocking event that could have plunged the nation into a political crisis.

Higgins heaps praise on local law enforcement, particularly the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), who he says were professionally deployed and commanded.

However, one concerning point highlighted was that the Secret Service did not retrieve radios that had been set aside for them by Butler County's tactical command, even though they had been reminded to do so by Butler County tactical command the day before and the morning of the shooting, Higgins says. 

He also discovered that before July 13, the Secret Service had never assigned a counter-sniper team to a former president, including Trump.

Higgins said Crooks fired off eight shots, and that all eight casings were recovered and are allegedly in proper possession of the FBI. He said that Crooks’ position on the roof of the gar building provided him with excellent concealment from the northern counter-sniper team due to the foliage and branches of two trees.

A screenshot image from James Copenhaver, one of the victims critically wounded in the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Trump, shows a figure, likely Crooks, moving across a rooftop just minutes before gunfire rang out at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (James Copenhaver)

The ninth shot was fired by a Butler SWAT operator from the ground, about 100 yards away from the AGR building. The shot hit Crooks’ rifle stock and fragged his face and shoulder area from the stock breaking up. Higgins believes this shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ rifle, meaning that the rifle would not fire after his eight shot.

"The SWAT operator who took this shot was a total badass; when he had sighted the shooter Crooks as a mostly obscured by foliage moving target on the AGR rooftop, he immediately left his assigned post and ran towards the threat, running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing 8 rounds," Higgins writes.

Higgins writes that Crooks "went down" from his firing position when shot 9 was fired, recovered after just a few seconds, and "popped back up."

The tenth, and final shot, was fired by the southern Secret Service counter-sniper team, which entered the left mouth area and exited the right ear area.

Officers surround Thomas Crooks on the AGR roof after countersnipers killed him. (Butler Twp Police Dept.)

Higgins also says that Crooks did not use a ladder to scale the roof and ruled out a possible second shooter being on top of the water tower. Videos circulating online show a dark figure or a shadow on the water tower, but Higgins says that ESU Commander Edward Lenz had cleared the tower with a drone that morning. 

He also says that a window below Crooks’ firing position on the roof of the AGR building did not open and never did open after videos online suggested a "muzzle flash" had come from it.

"The ‘muzzle flash’ from inside that window was either a digital fabrication or an iPhone light or iPhone camera flash reflected from the glass of the widow," Higgins writes.

Higgins said he has yet to take a deep dive into how Crooks came to be a shooter or how he manufactured a remote trigger bomb.  

"I have not investigated the life and actions of Thomas Matthew Crooks outside of his actions on J13. But I will. We will. We’re just getting started, Mr. Chairman."

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

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