FBI Director Christopher Wray says there is "some question" about whether former President Donald Trump was struck by a bullet or shrapnel during the July 13 attempt on his life.
Wray testified on Wednesday, July 24 before the House Judiciary Committee about the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt.
"With respect to former President Trump, there's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear," Wray responded to Chairman Jim Jordan, who asked him if the FBI had accounted for all gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks' bullets, per ABC News and CBS News.
"It's conceivable, although as I sit here right now, I don't know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else," Wray added. "But I believe we've accounted for all the shots in the cartridges."
Trump, 78, was speaking at a rally in Butler, Penn. on Saturday, July 13, when gunshots rang out. The Republican presidential nominee flinched and raised his hand to his right ear before being tackled to the ground by Secret Service agents. As he got up to be escorted away, blood could be seen on his ear and face.
Later that evening, Trump posted his first update after the shooting on Truth Social.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," the post read. "I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening."
In a follow-up post Sunday, July 14, Trump wrote, "Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will FEAR NOT, b -
ut instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families," referencing Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was killed. Two others were also injured.
On Monday, July 15, Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention with a large white bandage on his right ear, which he continued to wear throughout the rest of the event.
On Thursday, July 18, Trump again spoke about his injury after formally accepting his party's nomination.
"I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear. I said to myself, 'Wow what was that? It can only be a bullet,' " Trump recalled. "I moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, my hand was covered with blood. Just absolutely blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement proceeded to drop to the ground."
At another rally in Michigan on Saturday, July 20, Trump — no longer wearing a bandage — said, "Last week, I took a bullet for democracy."
That same day, Axios reported Trump's former White House physician and Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson shared a memo about Trump's injury. In the memo, Jackson wrote that "the bullet track produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear."
On Wednesday, Wray, 57, also testified that the gunman had flown a drone over the rally grounds two hours before the event, and that Crooks had searched online about theassassination of President John F. Kennedydays prior to the shooting.
“There’s a whole lot of work underway and still a lot of work to do,” Wray added about the ongoing investigation.
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