Louisiana lawmaker accuses FBI of obstructing justice and destroying evidence during investigation into Trump shooting

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) is concerned the FBI botched its investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last month. 

The Louisiana Republican is a member of the bipartisan task force charged with probing the effort to kill Trump. He released a preliminary report based on roughly 20 hours of investigation into the incident this week. 

Higgins said that as he prepared to examine the body of Trump’s would-be assassin to glean insight into the shooting, he was shocked to learn the FBI released the corpse 10 days after the shooting and allowed the body to be cremated. The House lawmaker is concerned the FBI allowed vital evidence surrounding the Butler County rally, where Trump was shot, to be eliminated. 

“The FBI cleaned up biological evidence from the crime scene, which is unheard of,” Higgins wrote. “Cops don’t do that, ever.” The agency, on the other hand, said the “cleaning of the location” was in keeping with “normal procedures.”

The FBI repeatedly insisted it followed “normal procedures” in the handling of the crime scene and evidence in an email to the Washington Examiner.

While Higgins is worried the agency’s actions amount to “obstruction to any following investigative effort,” the FBI said the decision came after a “detailed, coordinated effort with the coroner’s office.”

“The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I won’t know 100% if the coroner’s report and the autopsy report are accurate,” Higgins said.

Higgins also indicated “surprise” in his report that the bureau swiftly released the crime scene after three days. “I interviewed several First Responders who expressed everything from surprise to dismay to suspicion regarding the fact that the FBI released the crime scene so early,” Higgins noted. The agency alleges “nothing was rushed.”

“The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to brief Congress and publish information for the public regarding the ongoing investigation,” the agency said in a statement.

Additionally, Higgins was perturbed by his finding that Secret Service countersniper teams didn’t use vital equipment provided to them by local law enforcement, even though Butler County police pressed them to do so.  

Pennsylvania police provided the countersnipers’ radios to use at the fateful rally, yet Higgins was told that they failed to pick them up, although the local authorities reminded them to do so the day before the event. 

The chief of communications for the Secret Service did not deny the report in a statement to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. 

“Inter-agency communications on July 13 will be examined during the U.S. Secret Service’s ongoing mission assurance review. The U.S. Secret Service is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel related to the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. 

“The U.S Secret Service’s mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures, and factors that led to this operational failure. Any identified and substantiated violations of policy committed by our personnel will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for disciplinary action. The U.S. Secret Service is committed to holding our personnel accountable to the highest professional standards,” he continued. 

The Washington Examiner reached out to Higgins’s office and the FBI for comment.