According to the FBI, Trump agrees to be questioned as part of the investigation into his assassination

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has agreed to an interview with the FBI as part of the investigation into the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania earlier this month, an official said Monday.

The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential candidate is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak to victims of federal crimes as part of its investigations. The FBI said Friday that Trump was hit by a bullet or bullet fragments during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“We want to hear his perspective on what he observed,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said Monday.

Rojek announced the planned conversation with Trump as he revealed new details about the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, including internet research that reveals an interest in mass shootings, power plants, explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovak prime minister earlier this year.

Despite hundreds of interviews, the FBI says it has still not been able to uncover a motive for the shooting. However, the picture of Crooks that has now emerged shows that of a withdrawn loner whose most important social circle is his family. Crooks’ parents were “extremely cooperative” with investigators, Rojek said, and the extensive planning before the shooting took place online.

The parents said they knew nothing about Crooks’ plans and investigators had no reason to doubt that, the FBI said.

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