FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said on Tuesday that there was “no doubt” that former President Donald Trump was struck in the ear with a bullet during an assassination attempt at his July 13 rally.
“There is absolutely no doubt in the FBI’s mind whether former President Trump was hit with a bullet and wounded in the ear. No doubt, there never has been,” Abbate said when Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked if Trump was hit with a bullet.
FBI Director Christopher Wray sparked GOP fury last week when he said that there were “some” questions about whether Trump was hit in the ear by a bullet or shrapnel. Wray did not question whether July 13 was an assassination attempt, and he did not dispute that Trump was injured. But Trump lashed out at Wray on Truth Social after the comments, and some of the former president's congressional allies publicly called on Wray to “correct” his remarks, accusing him of sowing confusion.
The FBI, in a subsequent statement on Friday, said that “what struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces.” That statement seemed to allay GOP anger, given Kennedy was the first Republican senator to bring it up more than two hours into the hearing.
Kennedy also asked Abbate on Tuesday to confirm that Trump wasn’t struck by a “space laser,” a “murder hornet” or “Sasquatch.”
