The FBI wants to interview former President Donald Trump regarding the assassination attempt at the rally in Pennsylvania, according to multiple reports.
Interviewing Trump to get a victim statement would fall under standard procedure in an investigation, a U.S. official told CNN.
Newsmax reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
The New York Times also reported the FBI had requested to interview Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, as part of its broader investigation into the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In a statement Thursday, the bureau said it continues to examine bullet fragments and other evidence in the attack on Trump.
During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that it was not clear what precisely caused the injury to Trump’s ear during the shooting.
“There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray testified. “As I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else.”
Trump on Thursday slammed Wray’s comments, posting on Truth Social: “No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a ‘bullet wound to the ear,’ and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!”
The Trump campaign also has pushed back on the non-bullet theory.
“Anyone who believes this conspiracy bulls*** is either mentally deficient or willfully peddling falsehoods for political reasons,” Trump adviser Steven Cheung told CNN.
A detailed analysis of bullet trajectories, footage, photos, and audio by The Times strongly suggests Trump was grazed by the first of eight bullets fired by the would-be assassin.
The FBI said it “has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump, which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims.”