More than two years have passed since Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto a rooftop in Butler, Pa., opened fire on then presidential candidate Donald Trump, killed Corey Comperatore, and wounded Trump and two other men. The FBI investigated the attack extensively, and said it found no evidence that Crooks acted with an accomplice.
Yet we’re still learning basic details about him through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.
A newly released batch contains 249 pages of FBI records involving Crooks’ phone activity, communications, and drone use. The material doesn’t overturn the FBI’s conclusion that he acted alone, but it does show how much information remains buried inside an investigative file the Justice Department has said runs roughly 75,000 pages.
From Judicial Watch:
Judicial Watch filed its July 2025 FOIA lawsuit after the FBI failed to respond to a July 2024 request for records concerning Crooks and the assassination attempt (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02216)). The Justice Department has indicated that the total volume of records in the Crooks investigative file numbers approximately 75,000 pages. At their current release rate of approximately 500 pages per month, it will take 12 years for Judicial Watch to be provided with all the records.
An FBI electronic communication dated July 19, 2024, concerns a cell phone conversation in the Crooks investigation described as a “chat thread” between Crooks and a recipient whose name is redacted. The conversation occurred between May 21, 2023, and January 3, 2024.
One portion involves a chat between Crooks and another person whose identity is redacted. The exchange is strange enough to attract attention, but redaction doesn’t magically turn an unidentified correspondent into a co-conspirator. The documents don’t establish that the person helped Crooks plan the shooting or even knew what he intended to do.
Investigators preserved other communications because the FBI considered them pertinent to its investigation. Again, “pertinent” doesn’t mean criminal. Investigators cast wide nets after an attempted presidential assassination, and the significance of some contacts may simply be that agents needed to rule them out.
The drone records are more concrete.
Investigators extracted images and flight information showing eight drone flights connected to Crooks’ device. Seven occurred in the Pittsburgh region earlier in 2024. Another occurred in Butler on July 13, the day of the rally. Crooks’ drone activity near the rally site had already become public during earlier investigations, but the newly released records add detail to what the FBI recovered from the device.
ICYMI: Remembering Jim Copenhaver: Another Victim of the Butler Shooting Dies
The Pittsburgh flights shouldn’t be transformed into evidence of a larger plot without proof. People fly drones for perfectly ordinary reasons. The records are important because they help complete the timeline of a man who came within inches of changing American history.
The more troubling issue is how we’re getting them.
The FBI had Crooks’ devices, communications, searches, photographs, drone information, interviews, and forensic material shortly after the shooting. Congress held hearings, federal agencies issued reports, and the public was repeatedly told investigators had reconstructed Crooks’ actions and found no evidence of a broader conspiracy.
Still, pieces keep appearing because outside groups sue the government for them.
Transparency doesn’t mean dumping every witness address or sensitive investigative detail onto the internet. Some redactions protect innocent people, investigative techniques, and private information. Nobody benefits from exposing someone merely because Crooks exchanged a message with him years ago.
There’s also a large difference between protecting legitimate secrets and forcing Americans to pry ordinary factual records out of their government one lawsuit at a time.
The Butler shooting produced one of the most consequential Secret Service failures in modern history. A gunman reached an elevated position with a clear sight line to a former president and major presidential candidate while spectators were already warning police about him. Corey Comperatore died protecting his family.
Those facts created a public interest that didn’t disappear when the crime scene was cleared.
The newest 249 pages don’t prove a hidden conspiracy; they don’t identify a second shooter, mastermind, or accomplice.
They do remind us that somewhere inside roughly 75,000 pages, the federal government still possesses pieces of the Thomas Matthew Crooks story the public hasn’t seen.
After two years, Americans shouldn’t need another lawsuit every time they want another page.
Government transparency shouldn’t depend on who has the money and patience to file another lawsuit. PJ Media keeps digging beyond press conferences and official summaries because the documents often contain the part of the story worth reading. Join PJ Media VIP today and save 60% with promo code FIGHT.
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