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FBI Director Christopher Wray told US lawmakers on Wednesday that his agency will "make every effort" to find out what caused authorities to fail to prevent the assassination of former President Donald Trump.
"I have long said that we live in an environment with increased threats. And the assassination was a tragic and particularly despicable example of such an environment," Director Wray said in his testimony. "We will do our best. The killer is dead, but the FBI's investigation is ongoing."
Director Wray is testifying at a congressional hearing on the bureau's investigation into the assassination of former President Donald Trump. Lawmakers are expected to ask him for new details on the attacker's motive and background.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing is the first time Mr Wray has spoken in detail about the incident as agents continue to investigate 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
But the hearing on the assassination of Mr. Trump seems to be held in the shadow of partisan divisions within the commission.
Earlier in the hearing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican, said he expects Director Wray to answer questions about the events that occurred before, during and after the incident, but expressed doubts that he will get any answers. even before the questions started.
"I'm sure you understand that a significant portion of the country is skeptical about the FBI's ability to conduct a fair, honest, open and transparent investigation," he declared.
Democratic lawmaker Jerrold Nadler condemned the attack on former President Trump "unequivocally and forcefully," but in his comments he emphasized threats and political violence over the years as well as what he called violent rhetoric from Republicans, including by Mr. Trump himself.
"If you think this assassin's bullet was a surprise and not part of a wave of violence that has been threatening our country for years, then you have missed the point," he declared.
The assassination was the worst attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate in the United States since President Ronald Reagan was assassinated in 1981.
The hearing was scheduled long before the July 13 attack on former President Trump as part of the commission's routine oversight of the FBI and Justice Department, but questions about the assassination are dominating.
Although the FBI has not been targeted with the same intensity as the Secret Service over security failures to protect former President Trump, lawmakers are likely to ask plenty of questions about the FBI's assessment that Crooks did not leave a trail. any apparent ideological motive for his actions.
On Tuesday, after fierce criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
The FBI has said it is investigating the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left one rally participant dead and two others seriously injured, as an act of domestic terrorism and attempted murder.
Mr. Wray and other senior officials privately briefed members of Congress last week, telling them that Crooks had pictures of former President Trump and President Joe Biden, as well as other officials, on his phone. He had also searched online for the dates of the Democratic National Convention as well as Mr. Trump's campaign activities.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press last week that Crooks had also launched a drone over the rally site before the attack, apparently in an attempt to get an idea of the scene. / VOA
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