Becoming 47 Part 3 | Blind Leading The Blind

0:13 Welcome back to Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite. I am your host, Jim Chapman. I want to thank everyone who voted for Exposed scandalss Files of the Elite for the People's Choice Podcast Award in the Best Storyteller in a Drama category. We haven't got the news yet as of this recording on whether we made the finals of what is the nineteenth annual People's Choice Podcast Awards, So as soon as we get that information, we'll let you know. But thank you. I mean that. I know that takes a little bit of effort and time and it absolutely means the world to me. So thank you. Thank you to all the Patreon supporters out there. Couldn't do the show without you, simple as that. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know. So as I like to do, I like to jump right into it, and I'm going to do just that today with Part three of Becoming forty seven. We're calling this episode Blind Leading the Blind, and you'll see why as we go through this. So before we get into the third day of congressional hearings regarding the attempted assassination of a former president, I want to mention some breaking news I got just prior to this recording. So I'm referencing an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, and here's what it says. Just as a Beaver County swat sniper was finishing his shift

1:44 at the Butler County Trump rally, he spotted a man who later turned out to be the twenty year old gunman nearly two hours before he took aim at the former president. He knows you guys are up there, the officer texted the snipers in the building. He's sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about fifty yards from the exit. One responded seconds later, at four twenty seven pm with the thumbs up emulgy. Minutes later, another replied Roger Vatt. But Thomas Matthew Crooks had time more than one hundred minutes to lurk around the building, measure the distance to the stage with a range finder, crawl on to an elevated firing position, and take aim. The text messages, which were shared with the Post Gazette and other media by US Senator Chuck Grassley, offers the most details so far of the minutes that culminated into one of the worst security failures ever involving a presidential candidate.

2:42 More messages would follow in a group chat among snipers from Beaver and Butler Counties, pointing to the shooter's positions as he moved around the building they were in. Around five fifteen am, an officer took a photo of him and shared it with other SWAT operators. Five thirty eight pm, they spotted him again directly below their position in the AGR International Building, wearing a T shirt and glasses. A text immediately following say, kid leaning around building. We are in AGR. I believe it is I did see him with a rangefinder looking towards the stage. FYI if you want to notify Secret Service snipers to look out. I lost sight of him, not until thirty three minutes later, when Secret Service snipers killed CRUKX, more than two hours after he showed up and began preparing to assassinate the forty fifth president. The text messages continue to bring light on the critical security breaches that not only involved the Secret Service, but law enforcement they relied on to provide protection for Trump, as well as thousands of rally goers.

3:50 On July thirteenth, though Congressional hearings, pinpointed an hour long window in lapses before the shooting. Text messages clearly show that went on significantly longer, closer to one hundred and five minutes. The release of these text messages, along with the photos of the shooter and aerial images of key buildings and points where the gum one was moving, came just hours after the FBI revealed more details about crooks, whose motive for the attack remains a mystery. And that just came out breaking news there, and we got an issue here with being lied to. Both things can't be true, right, Think about that while we jump in to today's episode. So, speaking of lies, I also managed to get my hand on the actual Butler Police sawat Team incident report and it's very detailed and quite honestly, very contradictory from what the Secret Service is saying. So if you're a national or global celebrity Patreon member, look for that. I'm going to upload that as soon as possible to the page for you to check out. And lastly, on the breaking stuff, a Butler police sniper has spoken out. He actually did an interview and made it known that he informed the Secret Service of crooks well ahead of time, and what he said, y'all is very concerning. And here's what that sounded like.

5:20 On CNN, we had a text group between the local snipers ever unseen. I had sent those pictures out to that group and advised them of what I noticed and what i'd seen. What do you think is transpiring? Once you send in what you've sent in. I assume that there would be somebody coming out to, you know, speak with this individual, or you know, find out what's going on. So let's jump right into it and bring you to the third day of testimony in front of that Congressional committee that is investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. And finally we get some what a response is today out of the man of the hour, and that was FBI Director Christopher Ray. Of course, the FBI is the lead on the investigation and the questions. They came hard and fast from the committee. Jim Jordan, who is the chair of the committee, started it off with his opening statement. I thought it was important that you hear that. And here's what that sounded like.

6:25 Now, Cheron, I recognize himself an opening statement. July thirteenth was a terrible day. For America. We all agree spirited debate fighting for what you believe in are part of what makes this country the greatest nation in the world. But the First Amendment and robust political debate are not consistent in any way with violence. What happened in Butler, Pennsylvania was a tragedy that took the life of a good man, Corey Compertour, leaving a wife without a husband and two daughters without a father. Others were injured, and of course, former President Trump, by the grace of God, survived the assassination attempt. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the security failures that day, questions about decisions made before the rally, questions about actions during the rally, and questions about statements made after the event concluded. Prior to the rally, Why was the President's security detail denied requests for extra resources. Why weren't all the buildings secured?

7:21 There were a finite number of buildings that needed to be secured. Why wasn't that done? Why was the President allowed to walk out on the stage when there was a suspicious person on the property during the rally? What exactly happened between six nine and six fourteen those critical five minutes. We know from briefings from the Director and the Deputy Director of the FBI and other information, we've gathered that at six ' oh nine, the shooter was identified on the roof. At six ' ten, the counter sniper was notified. Counter sniper teams were notified about the shooter. Six' eleven, the shooter several shots, injuring and killing one person, injuring others. At six twelve, the counter sniper took down the shooter and a six fourteen, President Trump was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents. We need to know what happened, play by play, moment by moment, second by second, the communications that took place again during that critical five minutes, and then finally after the rally.

8:23 Why did both the Secret Service. And Secretary of Homeland Security My Orcus lie to the American people. July fourteenth, the day after the attack, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliami said, this quote, the assertion that a member of the former president's security team requested additional security resources that the US Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false. The next day, Secretary man Orcus said that is an unequivocally false assertion we had not received any request for additional security measures that were rebuffed. But five days later, top. Officials repeatedly rejected requests from Donald Trump's security detail for more personnel, and on the twenty first of July, the New York Times, confirming what the Washington Post report had said, quote mister GOOGLIAMI acknowledged that the Secret Service had turned down request for additional federal security assets for mister Trump's detail.

9:24 One hundred and eighty degree change. Why did they initially lie to us in the days after the attack in Pennsylvania. Finally, we hope to learn more today from Director Ray about the shooter, his use of the drone, the explosives that were in his car, how he got on the roof, and a host of other questions. It is our hope that Director raised testimony can begin to give answers to the American people about all of these questions and concerns. So, Director, we appreciate you being here, and we trust that you're going to be as transparent with the Committee and the country as you possibly can. I'm sure you understand that a significant portion of the country has a healthy skepticism regarding the FBI's ability to conduct a fair, honest, open and transparent investigation, and that skepticism is based on what they've witnessed over the past several years. The American people have seen a Biden Harris Justice Department. They can't tell us who planted the pipe bombs on January sixth, They can't tell us who leaked the Dobb's opinion, and they can't tell us who put cocaine at.

10:25 The White House. Biden Harris Justice Department who rated President Trump's home, Biden Harris's Justice Department who worked with social media companies to censor Americans, Biden Harris Justice Department who let the country believe that the Hunter Biden laptop was misinformation when they knew at the time it was authentic, And maybe most importantly, a Biden Harris Justice Department who retaliated against whistleblowers who came to this committee and spoke. To us about these issues. Last week, we sent you twelve questions about what a curdel in July thirteenth. We expect you to answer those questions and the others that I've just outlined, and again, we. Thank you for being here today. And appreciate your willingness to answer the questions that the committee is going to have, and with that I would yield to the ranking member for an opening state.

11:11 So that was the opening statement from Jim Jordan addressing the FBI Director's investigation. And before we get any further into it, I want to let you know who Christopher Ray is outside of just being the FBI director. What's his experience you may wonder well to give you a little bit of history on him. Christopher Ray actually became the eighth Director of the FBI. That was on August second of twenty seventeen. He was actually appointed by Donald Trump and mister Ray began his law enforcement career in nineteen ninety seven. He served in the Department of Justice for the Northern District of Georgia, and in that role, mister Ray prosecuted a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including public corruption, ticking, drug offenses, and financial fraud. In two thousand and one, Ray was named Associate Deputy Attorney General and then Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Office of Deputy Attorney General in Washington. His duties there spanned the full Department of Justice, including responsibility for sensitive investigations conducted by DOJ's law enforcement agencies. Mister Ray was nominated by George Bush in two thousand and three to be the Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ's Criminal Division, which supervises major national and international crime investigations and prosecutions.

12:41 He actually oversaw the counter Terrorism Section and the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, which were part of the Criminal Division. Throughout his tenure, mister Ray was also a member of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force, supervised the Run Task Force, and served as leader in the DOJ's Post nine to eleven efforts to combat terrorism, espionage, and cybercrime with domestic and foreign government partners. At the conclusion of his tenure, mister Ray was awarded the Edmund J. Randolph Award, which is the Department of Justice's highest award for leadership in public service. He was born in New York City. He graduated from Yale in nineteen eighty nine and earned his law degree from Yale in nineteen ninety two. He spent over most seventeen years practicing law in the area of government investigation in white collar crime before he was nominated to be FBI director. So that's a little bit on him.

13:41 Obviously a very experienced guy. And look, when you're thinking about FBI directors, you picture Christopher Ray. He looks like he will work for the FBI. He just has that luck to me, I don't know what it is. It his salt pepper hair, I guess, and the way he speaks. He has a very commanding voice, but yet it doesn't seem intimidating. He's just what I personally would think of as the FBI director. So we'll continue on with that hearing. And in that clip that I just played you with Jim Jordan, look, he's seeking the truth and I hope all of us are. Now we did get some confirmation in this hearing on the supply of AMMO that Crooks was carrying. And you may be surprised to know that this kid had an arsenal. It's obvious to me that his plan, based off of the amount of bullets he had, that this guy would have killed as many people as he possibly could. And in this next clip, you're gonna hear another exchange between Jim Jordan and Director Ray where that very subject is discussed. And here's what that sounded like.

14:57 I appreciate the gentleman yielding director. I guess I'm not clear exactly where all you said there were hl casings on the roof, So eight bullets were fired. We obviously know that mister COMPARATORI lost his life. To other two other rally goers were injured, seriously injured, and then the one that hit President Trump. Does that account for it? Were some of these individuals hit multiple times? Where did all eight bullets go? Is? I guess my question? Uh, I don't have that in front of me. I'm happy to circle back and get that to you. It's just assuming we have that information. Yet, As I said, I think with respect to former President Trump, there's there's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that you know that hit his ear.

15:47 So's it's conceivable, as I say here right now, I don't know whether that bullet, in addition to you know, clousing and the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else. But I believe we've accounted for all of the odds in the cartridges. So let us it's my understanding that the very first one was the one that hit the president. Is that very for shot or is that not accurate. I don't, as I said here right now, I don't know the answer to that. I believe we know the answer to that. I just don't have it in front of me. Okay, okay, is there any chance this? I mean, it seems to me that this bad guy, the shooter was was focused on President Trump. But you indicated that he purchased fifty rounds of ammunition I believe earlier that day. Do you have any indications thus far in your investigation that in addition to going after and trying to assassinate the former president, he was also looking to do a lot more damage to other individuals.

16:44 That's a hard question to answer. What I would say is I agree with you that his preparatory activity. Is what we've seen so far. The limited information that has been relevant and interesting about his preparatory activity does seem to be that he had settled on former President Trump as a target and this rally as his moment to try to take a shot. But in addition to the fifty rounds, of course, you have the issue of these explosive devices, right, and so what else he may have had in mind is something that I think is very much of an open question.

17:25 On the one hand, you have these explosive devices, including the one still back in his home that wasn't in quite the same stage as the one in the vehicle vehicles once in the vehicle, but he clearly had those explosive devices for some reason, and so we're trying to figure that out. As I've said before, you know, sometimes in these kind of situations you find like a manifesto or something like that. It's frustrating to us and I'm sure frustrating to you and the American people that we haven't found anything quite like that. We'd love to have a roadmap that tells us exactly what he was thinking. We haven't found that yet, doesn't mean we won't. We're looking all over the place and we're going to leave no stone unturned. Now. That's scary stuff, and as bad as it was, and it was bad, it could have been much worse. That dude had a ton of AMMO. But Jordan, he's not done with the FBI director And in the hearings, some new information was brought to surface by the director, and that was that Crooks flew a drone over the site of the rally. And in this clip, Jordan has directory.

18:28 Expand on that, and here's what that sounded like. A director. Let me go back to where mister Bishop was, tell me about the drone. You act like you wanted to fill us in on that. Fill us in. So, we have recovered a drone that the shooter appears to have used. It's being exploited and analyzed by the FBI lab. The drone was recovered in his vehicle, so at the time of the shooting, the drone was in his vehicle with the controller. In addition, our investigation had uncovered do you. Know what time of day he flew it and if he flew it on the day as too. So in addition, it appears that around three point fifty pm, four o'clock in that window on the day of the shooting, that the shooter was flying the drone around the area eleven minutes. I want to be clear, but when I say the area not over the stage and that part of the area itself, I would say about two hundred yards give or take away from that.

19:33 We we think, but we do not know. So again, this is one of these things that's qualified because of our ongoing review. That he was live streaming, you know, viewing the footage from that again about eleven minutes and around the three fifty four o'clock PM rang two hours. Before, he's flying a drone in the vicinity of about two hundred yards away. Okay, that's that's important information. What about the bombs that we've put about in the in the shooter's. Car, So again the FBI lab is avoiding those explosive devices there were. We've recovered three devices, two in his vehicle and one back in his residence. Are these are. These what you would call your experts will call sophisticated operations?

20:16 Are this I mean I think, I mean, I don't know. That's what I've been told by people who have some understanding this area. Yeah, I think it's We've seen more sophisticated and less. I would say these are relatively again keyword, relatively crude devices themselves. But they did have the ability to be detonated remotely, and so to that point, in addition to the two devices that we recovered out of his vehicle, there were receivers for those two explosive devices. With the devices, and then on the shooter himself when he was killed by law enforcement, Uh, he had a transmitter with him. Now, I do want to add one important point here is that the moment, it looks to us again ongoing review, and I can't say that too many times. At a moment, it looks like, because of the on off position on the receivers that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked.

21:19 But that doesn't mean the explosives weren't dangerous. And I'm sure we're going to get in all these subjects a little bit later as well. Tell us what you can about the encrypted platforms we've heard about. So one of the things that we're drilling into hard with the shooter in an effort to try to learn more about his state of mind, his mode of his ideology, his contact, everything else, is to look at all of his devices, any social media, councy, head etc. And one of the things we've learned in finally getting into his phone, which was also a significant technical challenge from an encryption perspective. But in addition, once we got on the phone, it turned out he was using some encrypted messaging application.

22:02 And again the same question relative to the bombs. Is this was this pretty sophisticated or is this this is the kind of the norm you see with folks like you know, similar situation. On this subject. I would say this has unfortunately now become very commonplace and it's a real challenge for not just the FBI, but stay in local law enforcement. Algorithm. Tell me exactly the scope of Does the scope of your investigation include. What I what I call that critical five. Minutes from when the six oh nine when this is based I think on information you've given the Congress six h nine when the shooters identified on the roof and six or fourteen when President Trump has ultimately escorted off and all that happens the shots that take place in between there, Do you have access to the communications that were going on at the time in that critical five minutes?

22:45 So, uh, our our investigation, when you say scope, our investigation includes that time frame. Although focused again on the shooter himself understands. Right now in part of that, he's obviously involved in that timeframe. Correct, And as part of that, as part of our folks, is our investigation of the shooter and the attack. Of course, we are interviewing law enforcement from the scene because those are some of the most significant witnesses, and we're obviously getting access to their materials and that kind of thing, and the cigarets. You're getting access to cooperative, You have access to the communications that exist there. That exact question, I don't, as I said here at the moment, I don't know the exact answer to that question, but I know that Secret Service has been cooperative with us.

23:26 The Congress would like access to those communications as well. Let's unpack this first, the fact that this kid was able to fly a drone over the area prior to the event, just hours prior. As a matter of fact, the FBI did come out after director raised testimony. In a timeline they provided set at three point fifty, Crooks begins flying a drone outside the area, just outside of the inner perimeter of the rally, possibly to US SASS security, and that drone flight lasted eleven minutes, So at four oh one, less than two hours before Trump took that stage, he was flying a fucking drone. That's crazy. I mean, this kid was so blatant in just about everything he did that I cannot imagine how the heck he didn't get caught. It's mind boggling. Second, in that clip, you also heard the director discuss the bombs he had in his car and the sophistication. Remember, he said though he had seen better, it wasn't bad. It wasn't the worst he's ever seen, and even referenced crooks having a detonator with him. How the hell is that even possible, y'all?

24:52 That a twenty year old kid by himself, was able to figure out all of this planet, order the equipment, and get off eight shots against a former president. Y'all. I can't even order a T shirt off Amazon without identical T shirts showing up on my Facebook feed. WTF? How is that possible? Now? Lastly, on that clip, I am well more than concerned that you have the director of the FBI testifying in a congressional hearing and admitting that a twenty year old kid was using encrypted applications to communicate online and that they may never know exactly what those communications were. You're the FBI and you can't get into those applications. Come on, I don't.

26:01 Even know if I believe that. Basically, what he's saying is a twenty year old kid from nowhere, USA, who supposedly had no friends and what somewhat of an introvert, was able to not only fool the Secret Service and pull off what was damn near an assassination of a former president. But in addition to wounding two people and kill him one, but he was also able to fool the entire FBI. This is shocking. They may never get into some of those encrypted applications. Now. Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, in her exchange, focused on the motive of the shooting, and we also got some confirmation on how the gun was obtained that crooks used. So I'm gonna play that clip and then we're gonna talk about it. I have a lot to say on this one. So first here's the clip.

26:58 Reckon that's a gener lady from California for five minutes. Thank you, mister Chairman, and thank you Director Ray for being here with us today. Before I ask anything, let me just echo the comments made by others, especially the ranking member, decrying the state of political violence in this country. It's completely unacceptable. We have a democratic system that allows for us to disagree, but not to take those disagreements to violence. That's what we have elections for. And I want to also thank you and all of the FBI for the work that you do and Frankly, the abuse, unwarned abuse and criticism that have been directed to you by conspiracy theorists and others doesn't make your hard job any easier, and I want you to know that many of us notice that and appreciate the work that you and your team are doing. Let me just ask a couple of quick questions. First, many of us are interested in the motives of the shooter here. When it's an assault on a political figure, use immediately assume there's a political motive, And that may be the case here. We don't know yet, but I was interested in what you're seeing on his phone. The press is reported that he had pictures not only of mister Trump, but of mister Biden and various other members political figures. Can you discern

28:31 was there an element of, you know, mainly Republicans, maybe Democrats? Was it all over the board? Can you enlighten us about that? Well, this is a place where it's particularly important for me to reiterate the caveat that I've included before, because in this instance, in particular, we have a lot of legal process out for additional accounts and things like that that the shooter is associated with. So we're hoping to learn more, and we're still exploiting amber of the digital devices. I think it's fair to say that we do not yet have a clear picture of his motive, and I think it's important for me to explain because I understand, of course why everybody wants to know. The answers to those questions. Often in an investigation from interviewing people that the subject was in close contact with, looking at the individual's subject, social media accounts, messages, often things physical evidence in the person's residence. You might see a manifesto, things like that. We're not seeing that yet, but we are digging in hard because this is one of these central questions for us.

29:41 What I can say is that the shooter appears to have. Done a lot of searches of public figures in general, but so far we're seeing kind of news articles and things like that, and so the images that have been reported about really what we're talking about there are when you do a news of an. Article, I see the image appears in. The cash as opposed to like. A search for that individual. But again, I really want to be clear that that's a place. That we're doing a lot of work right now, and some more to come on that. Well, I thank you for that clarification. We're interested also in the role of access to weapons when it comes to this terrible crime. The shooter used a semi automatic rifle, really a weapon of war that sadly has also been used in mass shootings around the country, including in my own district. It seems to me that the assault weapons ban that was once in place has to be a part of the national answer to curbing the epidemic of gun violence in America. I wonder if you could, with your help, Director Ray, understand a few aspects of the investigation.

30:53 It's my understanding that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ATF was quickly able to trace the gun the gun's purchaser using records from an out of business gun store, records that the government is required to correct. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the all have suggested that collection should stop. There have been efforts to digitize it, which have been resisted. Can you tell us about how the origin of this gun purchase was discovered and the technology used. Well, I guess what I can say is.

31:35 We located a number of firearms associated with the shooter and his family. I think it was a total of I think fourteen in the house. The weapon that he used for the attempted assassination was an. AR style rifle that was purchased legally. He is, my understanding, acquired I think bought actually from his father who was the one who originally bought it again legally. Thank you, miss Timmer. My time is expired, so are you okay? First, I don't care what the motive was, to be honest with you, whether it was political and he was a never trumper, or whether he had self image issues and wanted to be famous, or whether he just wanted to see if he could pull it off, or whether he was just fucking nuts. I don't care motives at this point. What does it matter? What does it matter why he did it? The question is how did he do it? Second, you heard loft Grun reference gun control.

32:47 No surprise, she's a Democrat from California. But I submit to you that the very first shot is the one that hit Trump's ear. I also submit to you that while it's true it was an hour fifteen that was used, he could have used a hung rifle like a thirty thirty or a thirty odd six very easily could have made that shot with those rifles. And if you'll remember, jfk Oswald used a rifle, So I'm thinking this kid would have just used a different weapon. And that's what irks me about some of the questions that these politicians are asking. This lady should be asking how the hell of twenty year old was able to get any shots off at the rally with one striking the former president.

33:37 That's what this is all about. It's an investigation into that incident. What it is not. What it is not is an opportunity for her to push an agenda that's not important right now. We need to put these agendas aside. The FBI director is there to answer questions specifically related to the failure that occurred. He's not there to debate gun control time and a place, and that wasn't it. The important thing is figuring out where that massive failure happened and fix it. Just my opinion. And lastly on that, and of course, the FBI director mentioned the fact that the residents had fourteen guns and that the AR fifteen was purchased legally. That's great, good to know. I suspect.

34:37 He mentioned that there were fourteen guns in the home to get some sort of response. So I'll just tell you down here in South Louisiana, that's about average for hunters in this area, if not more guns. And keep in mind Crooks was on a shooting team, and he and his father went to the shooting range all the time time. Shooting was a hobby in that family. There's nothing regular about having that many guns. When you're a gun enthusiast and you're on shooting teams, it's a parent that family actually you shooting as a hobby. So let's move on. Many of us have been wondering since this happened, how the heck he got on that roof. Congressman Massey from Kentucky got us some confirmation on some ladders. But well, listen to this club.

35:37 You mentioned that there would be assassin bought a five foot ladder. You have a credit. Card evidence of that, but it looks like on the scene there was a larger ladder that he might have used. Do you know which ladder he used to get to the roof, and do you have possession of that five foot ladder and the other ladder? And do you know how the taller ladder got. To the scene. So this whole about the ladder is something we're drilling into more. We do have possession of the five foot ladder that he purchased close in time to his attempted assassination. That we trace the purchase of that ladder from a.

36:18 Receipt, bloodied receipt that he had on him at the time his body was recovered on the roof. We do not yet know for sure how exactly he got up on the roof. We're looking at, you know, various forensic pieces to try to kind of piece that together. Some more to come on that. Do you know where the five foot ladder was found or retrieved? It's near the roof or was it in Stillny's vehicle? Neither. I don't have it in front of me, but I know that it was not. I know that it was not Unseene, and I know that it was not in his vehicle. But I can we can circle back. To you, Okay, Is there any evidence at all that he may have been in contact with somebody else before this occurred that may have had any prior knowledge or may have helped him plan this event.

37:11 Well, needless to say that that is a question that we're intensely focused on, because that would obviously be incredibly meaningful. So far, underline, so far, we have not found any evidence of any accomplices or co conspirators, foreign or domestic. And you're using geolocation data to see if his cell phone was near another cell phone, I presume. Right, we're doing lots of different kinds of cellular analysis, geolocation stuff looking at his accounts. He from everything we've seen, which is consistent of what we've learned in interviews. You know, a lot of people describe him as a loaner. That does kind of fit with what we're seeing in his devices.

37:55 You know, his list of contacts, for example, is very short, you know, compared to what you would normally see from most people. So it doesn't appear to be a whole lot of interaction between him, you know, face to face or digital with a lot of people. Okay, thank you. That doesn't mean there's not any And that's why we're drilling into. We're trying to talk to anybody who's had any engagement with him whatsoever, digital, you know, in person, classmates, coworkers. Right, et cetera. Appreciate that. And now I want to talk about another. So basically, he had some ladders and he even had a purchase receipt for a ladder on his person when he was killed. But according to Director Ray, they still don't know how he got up there, which if it was a ladder, that opens up a whole barrel of monkey y'all, because if there was no ladder after Crooks was killed, yet he used the ladder to access the roof, then that would mean there was an accomplice who walked off with the ladder after Crooks got on top of that roof. Think about that. One of the most horrifying exchanges came when Congressman Bin Klein asked Ray about the Google searches the FBI was able to uncover. You got

39:28 to listen to this. Gentlemen from Virginia's recognized for Femines Direct Gray, thank you for being here and thank you for the information that you've provided today. I greatly appreciated this event that occurred. The attempt assassination President Trump on July thirteenth in Butler, Pennsylvania was a Level five alarm alert to this country that our elected officials are leaders. The president the former president are not safe and we need to re evaluate from the ground up exactly how we are to go about providing that protection. The information you provided dealing with eight cartridges from the roof the drone, the fact that two explosive devices were found in the car, one at home that was a remote detonation device that he had on him, The fact that his phone was using encrypted platforms.

40:21 He only had one phone. Correct, Oh sorry, Yeah, he had one phone. Although we've identified other phones that he may have used, it may not have been his phone. So, for example, we think in certain instances he might have used his dad's phone. Again, not necessarily related to the attack, but we're trying to We are trying to make sure that we process and exploit every device he could have used, and we keep which is part of why I keep making this point which I know you're all probably tired of me making, about this being an ongoing investigation, because we keep identifying new pieces of equipment, new accounts. What have you. And the fact that you are in real time informing us about what you're finding as you're performing this investigation is very hopeful and clarifying the fact that he went to the range a day before and shot in ar Now my understanding is that the ar he used on the thirteenth was his father's.

41:19 Is that correct? Well, yes and no, it was originally his father bought it legally, but then our understanding so far is that his father then conveyed it to him, sold it in fact to his son, so originally his father's at the time of the shooting the. Shooters Okay, So that's new information. Was that provided to you by the father? I think it was partly from that way. I think we also saw some documentation to support it. Okay. Investigators also have said that the shooter posted quote July thirteenth will be my premiere, watch it as it unfolds on an online gaming platform sometime before he tried to assassinate President Trump. Can you confirm that and how much time elapsed between this posting and the attempt on July thirteen.

42:03 So I'm really glad you asked about that, because that is a situation where again, in our effort to give real time information, since we've provided that information, we have since learned that that July thirteenth premiere you know, profile page on the gaming platform, it turns. Out it was not the shooter oka that it. Was some other individual as part of some sick joke who after the shooting created a profile page pretending to. Be the shooter. Wow. And so of course we've now that person is now admitted to it, and you know, but my point being, among the other challenges that we as investigators have, you have people who create accounts in today's world, create accounts pretending to be somebody that they're you know, and it's not the actual persons. That's troubling obviously, and it makes our jobs even harder is investigating.

43:01 Thank you for clarifying that did he have a an online gaming account? We we do believe he was a gamer, and then he had different kinds of gaming accounts, so that's part of why we Yeah. Any information gleaned from those. Not yet, but again some of those are some of those legal process returns I'm still waiting on now. During the attempt at assassination, Crooks was wearing a T shirt from a popular YouTube channel. Have you been able to access his selection of YouTube videos that he's watched. I believe we have seen some of the some of his you know, search history, but I think we've got a ways to go on that. I know, there's some manual work that we're doing on that. I think the most notable thing that we've found recently, which I don't think has been shared until today, is that on a laptop that we've that the investigation ties to him, that on July sixth, he it revealed a Google search and his search if it was him. Again, it's a laptop tied to him, we obviously believe it's him, but we'll we'll continue to investigating his Google search. Was how far away was Oswald from Kennedy right and morrifying yes, absolutely?

44:22 Can you clarify that there that you have in your possession all of the video that has that was taken on that day at the scene. Uh, we've collected mountains of video. Part of the reason I admit to providing us with that, well, we're. Going to work with the committee and share information as best we can. Part of the reason I hedged on whether we have it all is as the as you can appreciate, in today's world, everybody with a phone has the ability to take footage, and so we're we're finding things kind of left and right of all the law enforcement video. I believe we have all the law enforcement video, but we're still selecting evidence, and.

45:02 I hope you would provide that to us and to the American people. Thank you. Ye back coming. So I think that clip right there and what Director Ray said speak to the mindset of this asshole. And if that doesn't concern you enough, Congressman chip Roy had an exchange with the director in which he asked about anyone in the FBI making social media post regarding their disappointment that Trump survived. Well, listen to this response and then we're going to talk about it.

45:45 Thank Chairman, Thank you Director Ray for being here. When did you last speak with President Biden? I don't have the exact date, but it's been certainly since the since the shooting. So you have spoken to the president since the assassination attempt on President Trump's life? Yes, sir, And what was the mental state of the president. We had a perfectly professional conversation. And are do you have any scheduled briefings of the president upcoming? Not at the moment, specifically scheduled nough. In twenty sixteen to twenty fifteen, top FBI officials infamously texted about quote their insurance policy to make sure Trump was never elected or inaugurator's president. Have any FBI agents tech that emailed or expressed disappointment that Trump survived the assassination assassination attempt or otherwise editorialized about the assassination attempt.

46:36 I don't know about any agents. There have been at least two instances, I think, or one instance of an individual who posted something that I consider outrageous and totally inappropriate and unacceptable, and that individual has been referred to our inspection division, which is the arm or sort of internal affairs investigatory arm that does the disciplinary problem. Let me tell y'all something about political figures. Politicians, congressmen, and attorneys. They never ask questions they don't already know the answer to. So to me, it's obvious that Chip Roy already knew something about that post before he asked the question. But it's pretty concerning when government employees have such a lack of self control that they cannot help but past something like that, especially in a situation like this where many believe there is a government conspiracy that has taken place. Look, I get it, everyone has an opinion and all that, but the lack of good judgment here and they wonder why people have such massive distrust of federal law enforcement agencies right now in government, right now, in Congress, right now, and all of these things. Well,

48:09 look at what your own employees post. They can't control themselves. So we're gonna move on to Matt Gates in his exchange, and he asked several questions, and they were all pretty good questions. Was the shooter on the FBI radar prior to the event where resources diverted from Trump? What about the threat in Iran? Was it taken seriously? And how about the state of mind of the current president. I'll tell you one thing. He sure pushed the director a little bit. It got a little bit heated, and he seemed a little bit frustrated. And here's what that exchange sounded like.

48:50 Was the shooter on the FBI's radar in any way prior to the assassination attempt? We did not have any information about the shooter. He was not in our whole holdings before the shooting. No communication in any chat rooms, no CIS or confidential human sources of any interactions. Now we've run a thorough search for the subject through all of our holdings and. He was not in them anywhere. Were there any FBI agents or informants present at the Trump rally in. Butler not to my nots. And mister Jordan was talking to you about Iran Were law enforcement resources diverted from the protection of President Trump to John Bolton as a consequence of concern that mister Bolton might have been the target of Iranian malign efforts?

49:42 That's really a secret Service decision. I don't know the answer to that. That's really something they would know better. What I can tell you is that there are a number of individuals you mentioned, one who we've brought a case, a specific criminal case for the Iranians targeting for assassination. How are you going to Are you going to get that answer to us whether or not resources were diverted from Trump to Bolton? Is that just going to be part of your review? I think that's going to be part of the reviews by the Inspector to the Inspector General, Inspector General KHS right of DHS and the and the outside panel. And I think that's an important point because the Inspector General for DHS has really fallen out of favor with the administration because he's been pointing out all the problems on the border with my orchis and Biden, and we're always kind of worried that they're about to fire him, which would be a really bad idea, now that this role that you've identified is so critical, be a bad idea to fire the IG for DHS during the pendency of this.

50:37 Right, mister d I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm with you on that. So I want to zoom out a little bit. How often do you brief President Biden? Uh? You mean on this just in your role? Is that fiatric? I mean, I I don't know that I could give you a number. I was like weekly, monthly, daily. It's it's not It's not at a regular case. There have been times when there have been months at a time when I haven't, and then there have been times when several days apart, I have. It's always with other people. The Vice president is she typically there. Often has been. Okay, So when did you notice his decline.

51:21 In my interactions in my role? All my interactions with the current president have been completely professional. Right, But I mean his the cognitive decline. I'm saying you treated you and professionally just maybe not picking things up as quickly as he used to. Again, I don't meet with him very often, but what you're describing is not something that I've observed during my interactions. With I mean, we've had it observed so often that the ranking member and mister Schiff on this committee have said that he could no longer continue as a candidate. And so, since you're the FBI director, I. Was just sort of wondering, like, who's running the country if something Yeah, so if something bad happened, you'd have to go brief President Biden about it right now, God forbid.

52:08 And I on any number of occasions I have briefed the President, and as I said, those briefings have all been uneventful and unremarkable. Oh, I can imagine them being uneventful. But in the work where the vice president's also president, like you say, there's like more than half the time there's these briefings, she's there too. I don't know if i'd said more than half the time. Certainly there have been times where she's been president. There have been other times where she hasn't. I take you at your word when you say this is the most complicated threat environment you've ever observed over a long career in law enforcement, and I'm just kind of wondering with this assassination attempt, with the invasion and our border, with all the hamas that have been let in that you've talked about and briefed about, like is Biden up to it?

52:54 And if he's not up to it? And you're a guy who's been regularly briefing him, like who's been in on this conspiracy to hide the real Joe Biden from all of us for years, it never occurred to you that this guy wasn't up to it. And all these briefings you did, As I said, my briefings with the president have all been completely fine. Were they between brief and asked questions? There hasn't been anything of note in the area that you're talking about. Did you ever have to brief him before ten am or after four pm? We hear those are as good hours. I can't. I've certainly times that I have briefed have included outside.

53:35 Those hours, right, Okay, I just you know, I think the American people want to know how we got to this point with someone who's very so diminished. His own party has basically put him out to pasture. And since you had close proximity, and the vice president had close proximity. I'm just kind of. Wondering if if you were being straight with all of us about how things were going with him. I guess we'll have to figure that out. You can count on me to be straight with you, sir. We'll see coming yells back. I told you got a little bit heated. But he asked some great questions, and what do you think about those answers? So shortly after Ray testified, the FBI put out a I guess more current timeline is how you would verbalize this, and I'm going to go over with you real quick. July third, the campaign meaning Trump's campaign announced the rally at the Butler form Show Grounds in ten days. July six, Crooks registered to attend the rally.

54:34 He used a search engine to look up how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was when he assassinated Kennedy. July seventh, Crooks drives to the Form show and spends twenty minutes surveilling the area. July eighth, the Secret Service conducts its first walk through of the site. July twelfth, Crooks brings the AR fifteen rifle he'll use the following day, to at a shooting range. The weapon has a folding stock. So what he was doing there, y'all, was he was doing what's known as zeroing the site in. He was making sure that it was absolutely zeroed his scope. And that's Gary. July thirteenth, at eleven am, Crooks arrives at the rally site and spends about an hour in the area before driving home. One thirty PM. Crooks gets the rifle from his home. Three point thirty four PM, he returns to the rally site. Three point fifty PM, Crooks begins flying a drone over the area, just outside the inner perimeter. Five PM, a Beaver County SWAT operator notices Crooks acting suspiciously and takes a photo. Five thirty PM SWAT operator see him using a range finder. Five fifty six PM, Crooks is again seen walking near the industrial complex where the local SWAT team is stationed. Six oh five pm Trump begins speaking. Six h eight pm, Crooks is caught on camera moving across the interconnected rooftops of

56:06 the industrial complex. Six oh nine pm, rilly goers spot Crooks crawling on a rooftop and begin yelling for police. Six to eleven PM, a local police officer is boosted onto the roof to investigate. Crooks turns his rifle on the officer, who lets go and falls to the ground six twelve pm. Seconds later, Crooks opens fire. That is a much more detailed timeline than we've had this entire investigation, but y'all, there is so much more coming, so look forward to that and for exposed scandalous files of the elite.

57:00 I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love, mm HM