Exclusive: Sen. Ron Johnson demands documents preservation from feds on Trump assassination attempt

Following a failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) is demanding that the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Secret Service “preserve all records” relating to the “failure of security” on July 13, when a man shot repeatedly at Trump, injuring the former president, wounding several others, and killing local firefighter Corey Comperatore.

“I request that your agencies preserve all records referring or relating to the protective detail of former President Trump, including the protective detail at the Butler campaign rally on July 13, 2024, any threats made against the former president, and how federal law enforcement addressed or will address those threats,” Johnson said. 

Johnson demanded information “as soon as possible” about the full security plans for the Pennsylvania rally, whether Trump’s security detail had the shooter on its radar, when the Secret Service became aware of the shooter, and if the Secret Service had been alerted to the shooter’s presence by rallygoers, as some witnesses have reported.

Johnson, whose home state is this week hosting the Republican National Convention (RNC), inadvertently helped save Trump’s life during the rally. Johnson showed Trump a chart on surging border encounters during one of Trump’s previous trips to Wisconsin, a chart Trump incorporated into his rally on Saturday. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear as Trump he was looking at the sign. “God works in mysterious ways,” Johnson said after the weekend’s events.

Johnson insisted upon a  “true, independent investigation” into the would-be assassination attempt. President Joe Biden said this week that “law enforcement professionals, as I speak, are investigating those questions” about the motives of the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

“I’m glad President Biden is calling for one,” Johnson said. “But it all depends on who’s on it. Any independent investigation has to have somebody like me who has experience investigating and uncovering the truth and [who is] willing to expose it unvarnished.”

The Secret Service is expected to face intense scrutiny for potential security lapses during the rally. Reps. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D., N.Y.) are working to boost security provisions for Trump, Biden, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Anything less would be “a disservice to our democracy,” the lawmakers said. 

Read Sen. Ron Johnson’s full letter HERE.