The FBI confirmed Trump's claim on Friday night, saying the gunman who pointed a rifle at the former president did indeed shoot him in the ear.
“The bullet that struck former President Trump in the ear was either a whole or fragmented bullet fired from a deceased individual's rifle,” the FBI said in a statement on Friday, according to multiple news outlets.
Earlier on Friday, FBI Director Christopher Wray expressed doubts, telling the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee it was unclear whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“With regards to former President Trump, I think there's a question as to whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that struck his ear,” Wray said Wednesday.
His comments were in response to a question from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asking where the eight bullets fired by shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks went.
Ray added, “It's possible, but as I sit here right now, I don't know if that bullet could have caused more than just a graze and it could have landed somewhere else. But I believe that all of that bullet damage has been accounted for.”
Jordan continued: “My understanding is that the first bullet was the one that hit the president, the first shot fired. Or is that not accurate?”
“As I sit here right now, I don't know the answer to that. I believe we know the answer. We just don't have the answer in front of us,” Ray responded.
The gunman, who was killed by the Secret Service, opened fire from a rooftop just minutes into Trump's July 13 rally, leaving the former president bleeding from his ear and killing one attendee and wounding two others.
When asked for comment Thursday about Lay's testimony on the question of whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang told Business Insider that “anyone who believes this conspiracy drivel is either mentally deficient or is purposely spreading lies for political reasons.”
Republican presidential nominee Trump appointed Wray to be FBI director in 2017.
In a statement, the FBI told BI that from the day of the incident, “the FBI has consistently and unequivocally maintained that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump, resulting in the injury of the president, the death of a heroic father, and the injuries of several others.”
“FBI Director Wray provided detailed testimony before Congress on Wednesday about the FBI's investigation. This was a heinous attack, and the FBI is dedicating enormous resources to learning everything possible about the shooter and what led to that act of violence. The FBI's shooter reconstruction team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation is ongoing,” the FBI said.
However, firearms expert Peter Dyachuk told BI that whether Trump had been hit by a bullet or shrapnel, either would have caused the same amount of damage to his ear and he would not have noticed the difference.
“Either one would rip out your ear. They're both going by pretty fast,” said Diatchuk, a professor of forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
Additionally, Dyarchuk told BI that it's likely that what struck Trump's ear was actually a bullet, not shrapnel.
For a bullet to break up into fragments, “it has to hit something that destroys the integrity of the bullet,” Diatchuk explained.
“From what I saw — and I obviously don't have as much information as someone who was there — from what I saw that day and the next day, there was a clear line of sight between the sniper's nest and the platform,” Diachuk said. “If that was the case, then there was nothing that could have caused the bullets to disperse.”
“There was no evidence of any intervening object that would cause the bullet to fragment,” he said.
Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, who served as Trump's White House physician, said in a previously released memo that the former president “suffered a gunshot wound” that caused “significant bleeding” and “significant swelling” throughout his upper ear.
“The bullet passed within a quarter inch of the skull and struck the upper part of the right ear,” the memo states. “The bullet's trajectory created a two-centimeter wound that extended downward from the cartilage surface of the ear.”
Updated July 26, 2024: This story has been updated to add an FBI statement that “whether a whole bullet or fragments” struck President Trump in the ear.
