Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson released a bombshell 34-minute video accusing the FBI of hiding crucial information about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump during a July 13, 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Thomas Crooks came within a quarter inch of destroying this country, and yet, a year and a half later, we still know almost nothing about him or why he did it,” Carlson said. “That’s because, for some reason, the FBI, even the current FBI, doesn’t want us to know.”
“The FBI told us Thomas Crooks tried to kill Donald Trump last summer but somehow had no online footprint. The FBI lied, and we can prove it because we have his posts. The question is why?” Carlson asked.
The FBI’s Rapid Response account denied Carlson’s accusations.
“This FBI has never said Thomas Crooks had no online footprint. Ever,” the FBI responded on social media.
Carlson said an anonymous tipster provided access to Crooks’ alleged online accounts, including YouTube comments from 2019 and 2020 and footage from his Google Drive showing him dry-firing a handgun in his bedroom.
Carlson said the accounts showed Crooks left “a detailed digital trail of violent threats, including calls for assassinations and political violence.”
According to Carlson, Crooks’ early online comments showed support for Trump and included racist and antisemitic language. Carlson said Crooks’ stance shifted dramatically during COVID-19, becoming critical of Trump and conservative media figures, including Carlson himself.
“Why is the FBI telling us that they’ll release this information, quote, ‘after the trial,’ when there is no trial?” Carlson asked. Crooks was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene.
Carlson also questioned the FBI’s decision to cremate Crooks’ body ten days after the assassination attempt, which occurred “the same day the House Homeland Security and Oversight Committees had begun their investigations into the shooting.”
“The fact the body was cremated made it impossible for investigators outside the FBI to verify the coroner and autopsy report,” Carlson said.
Take a look –
Who is Thomas Crooks? pic.twitter.com/WwjvPGGRwS
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 14, 2025
FBI Director Patel responded Friday afternoon without mentioning Carlson by name and denied there was any cover-up.
“Over 480 FBI employees were involved in the Thomas Crooks investigation. Employees conducted over 1,000 interviews, addressed over 2,000 public tips, analyzed data extracted from 13 seized digital devices, reviewed nearly 500,000 digital files, collected, processed, and synchronized hundreds of hours of video footage, analyzed financial activity from 10 different accounts, and examined data associated with 25 social media or online forum accounts,” Patel said.
“The FBI’s investigation into Thomas Crooks identified and examined over 20 online accounts, data extracted from over a dozen electronic devices, examination of numerous financial accounts and over 1,000 interviews and 2,000 public tips,” Patel continued.
“Crooks had limited online and in person interactions, planned and conducted the attack alone, and did not leak or share his intent to engage in the attack with anyone,” he said.
Crooks fired eight shots from a rooftop during the Butler rally, grazing Trump’s ear. Trump supporter Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, was killed. Two other men, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were wounded. Secret Service agents killed Crooks seconds after he opened fire.
The assassination attempt revealed security failures and led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. An independent panel investigating the incident said the agency needed “fundamental reform.” A bipartisan congressional task force continues investigating systemic failures.
Carlson’s video has received more than 15 million views.
“If there’s nothing there, if they tell you this is just a lone nut who gave no indication he might do this, then what is stopping the FBI from at least giving the facts to Congress?” Carlson said. “Because if there’s nothing there, these should be very easy questions to answer.”