The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that a bullet struck Donald Trump’s ear during the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This clarification came after the director of the bureau said there was “some question” about what hit the former president.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” read a statement released by the FBI.
The FBI’s acknowledgement that Trump, 78, was indeed hit by one of the rounds fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks comes after Trump fumed over FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray told lawmakers.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, claimed that Wray was “wrong,” and said the FBI “never even checked” to see what hit his ear, arguing that the FBI director’s suggestion that it could’ve been something other than a bullet is why “the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America.”
Trump asserted hours after the assassination attempt that he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin” after the shots rang out at the rally.
Ronny Jackson, a lawmaker representing Texas who was Trump’s former White House physician and attended to the ex-president after the shooting, noted Friday that there is “absolutely no evidence” that what struck Trump’s ear was “anything other than a bullet.”
In response to the FBI’s statement, Trump said that he “fully accepted” Wray’s “apology.”
“I assume that’s the best apology that we’ll get from Director Wray, but it is fully accepted!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Wray, 57, was hired by Trump for the top FBI spot back in 2017.
