New Questions Surface in Trump Butler Investigation as FBI Responds

0:00Get 50 % off your first year of Monarch Core. That's just$50 with promo code BUDGET. Monarch is the personal finance app that brings all your accounts into one place so you can track spending, budgets, investments, debt, and goals in one clear dashboard. Monarch automatically surfaces insights to prevent wasted spending, showcase savings opportunities, and save you time above all else. Manage money the modern way and get half off your first year with code BUDGET at Monarch.com. That's code budget at monarch.com.

0:30Ben Meiselas:Major red flags are surfacing about the alleged assassination attempt against Donald Trump from July 13, 2024, especially as Donald Trump continues to claim there have been other alleged assassination attempts, it seems like, every other week right now. Now, Donald Trump's FBI is attacking one of Donald Trump's closest allies, or I should say former closest allies, Tom Fitton, who was disenchanted by the Trump regime's refusal to release the emails, communications reports regarding the alleged July 13, 2024 assassination attempt. He made FOIA requests. He went to court and he eventually compelled the FBI and DOJ to turn over emails, communications and records regarding the alleged July 13, 2024 assassination attempt.

1:18Ben Meiselas:Still, the FBI heavily redacted these documents and emails, but they are damning. and they raise major red flags. And now the FBI is attacking Fitton. As I mentioned, Fitton was one of Donald Trump's closest allies. He gave Donald Trump legal advice throughout all of Donald Trump's prior court cases, despite the fact that Fitton is not a lawyer. He runs the group Judicial Watch through which he made these FOIA requests. And now the FBI is saying, don't trust Fitton. Fitton is all clickbait. He's a liar. But when you actually read the documents that were produced by the FBI and DOJ, despite being heavily redacted, they certainly don't say what the FBI is trying to spin them as saying.

2:00Ben Meiselas:We can read for ourselves that they seem to say exactly what Fitton says that they were purporting to be. I'll go show you it in a moment. So they were attacking Fitton. What else have they done this past week as they continue to try to cover up this and they continue to cover up the Epstein files? They also released the UFO files, the third tranche. And they're like, okay, maybe we're not turning over more documents regarding the alleged assassination attempt or alleged assassination attempts that Donald Trump is now claiming happen like every other week. And yeah, we're covering up the Epstein files, but hey, everybody, you want to see some information about Northeastern orb sightings in 2025s?

2:42Ben Meiselas:We'll release the third tranche of UFO files. Isn't this what you want? And people are like, not really. I mean, we want the Epstein files. We want the files regarding the alleged assassination to release those. And then they're like, you sure you don't want information about Tulsi Gabbard's conspiracy about gain of function research and biolabs? She can do some Russian propaganda for you. Tulsi Gabbard's leaving her position as the director of national intelligence after being forced out. And she's, I guess, being replaced by Bill Pulte, who knows if Pulte is really going to be there or not. She did this bizarre video at the end of last week where she She was like, and as the head of the ODNI, as the director of national intelligence, I found the Ukrainian bio labs that the Russians were talking about.

3:26Ben Meiselas:And Russia used that as a pretext for their invasion of Ukraine. And there were lots of people who said that Tulsi was very sympathetic and people said that she was an asset of Russia, which she denies. But then she does this as her final act, which would be pro-Russian propaganda. Regardless, people are like, stop trying to distract us with this stuff. Give us the information that we're demanding. So you had the FBI attack Tom Fitton. And in this message, they said, basically, don't trust Fitton. He's clickbait. He was Donald Trump's legal advisor for all of Donald Trump's prior cases. This is clickbait.

4:00Ben Meiselas:This is a clickbait lie by Judicial Watch, the FBI says, which is now nothing more than fake news media. The unredacted documents that Judicial Watch produced are interviews of Thomas Crooks by college instructors, not cops, wherein those instructors reference to having emailed Thomas Crooks about coursework. They make no reference to contact between Thomas Crooks and any police department. Maybe if you spent more time on facts instead of clicks, you wouldn't be a laughingstock calling Trump's former close friend and legal guy, Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, fake news. Now, you'll recall what Judicial Watch previously published.

4:45Ben Meiselas:Newly released FBI records show a Butler County deputy exchanged emails with Thomas Crooks, the alleged assassin who was shot and killed while he was trying to allegedly assassinate Trump before the July 13, 2024 shooting. The heavily redacted files also reference a gray remote device with an antenna recovered from Crooks after the attack. FBI says it's clickbait. As the community note to the FBI post says, the released FBI records obtained by Judicial Watch via a FOIA request, Freedom of Information Act request, are summaries of interviews with Butler County Sheriff deputies, not college instructors, one of whom confirmed exchanging two emails with crooks prior to the shooting.

5:30Ben Meiselas:I mean, we have it right here. I mean, here's what it says. Granted, it's also heavily redacted. And so why would you need to heavily redact all of this? Like, what is the basis of all of these redactions also? This just, even looking at this document, looks like a massive Trump regime cover-up. Just unredact all. What are you hiding behind these redactions right now in June 2026 about the July 13, 2024 incident? Explain that to me in and of itself. This should all be unredacted at this point. Now, here's what it says. on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, special agent received an email from blank, email address blank.

6:08Ben Meiselas:It says, happy to help how I can. My preference is by email so I can fit responding and during my working time. Then it goes on to say over here, beyond that, I probably had a few emails back and forth with Thomas Crooks regarding blank and regarding blank. During the blank, my interactions with Crooks were limited. All of my interactions with Crooks were unremarkable regarding interactions. And it's just all redacted. As Brianna Morello says, the person running the FBI account is unjustly attacking Tom Fitton for attempting to bring transparency to crooks. This is what they're saying in MAGA World, by the way.

6:45Ben Meiselas:This is what the right-wing people are posting. While the agency pretends to be about transparency, Fitton had to sue to get these records. These documents are heavily redacted. They did this to Miranda Devine, again, right-wing New York Post writer, Tucker Carlson, right-wing podcaster, and I, when we released Crook's social media accounts, they're trying to discredit good work. The FBI's unwillingness to hand over these documents to Judicial Watch through FOIA has resulted in a lawsuit. And now the FBI is bitter because they thought that we would just go away and we would just support their narrative.

7:18Ben Meiselas:Shameful and disgraceful. And so you have that. Now, as I said, there's a massive effort to distract from this, from the Epstein files. And so you had Tulsi Gabbard as her last act leaving, talks about like gain of function, you know, and all these kind of Russian conspiracies. We had to invade Ukraine because the US was supporting their bio labs. And I guess the implication and the conspiracy is that that's somehow behind like COVID and these are bioweapons. So Russia invaded in order to stop the bioweapons. And let's be clear. I mean, there's biological research that's done in countries across the world, but the idea of like a biolab doing bioweapons to threaten the world, and so Russia had to save the day, that's what Tulsi's trying to imply right here.

8:06Ben Meiselas:But this was an effort as the information is starting to come out about Trump's dark past, about the assassination attempt, and the real information starting to come out. Tulsi Gabbard releases this as her last act. Let's play it. After months of searching through intelligence community holdings and files, today I'm releasing new evidence of longstanding U.S. government funding of more than 120 biolabs in over 30 countries. Now, these bio labs include labs in places like Ukraine, which could be at risk of compromise due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In fact, the intelligence community had previously warned that a U.S.-funded bio lab in Ukraine likely housed dangerous pathogens.

8:50Ben Meiselas:And then you have Stephen Miller and the Department of Defense, which unlawfully calls itself the Department of War. Here's what Miller writes. The Department of War, under the Pursue Initiative, has uploaded thousands of never-before-seen formally secret UAP records spanning decades and dozens of federal agencies. It's the third tranche of records of UFOs. This is a FD-302 record interview with a U.S. person regarding a firsthand account of an incident involving an unidentified anomalous phenomenon, a Northeastern orb sighting. All right, just release the Epstein files, please. and release the real files regarding the alleged assassination and all of the other alleged assassination attempts recently.

9:33Ben Meiselas:Stop covering all of this up. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack, hydration, and coffee sponsor. IQ Bar protein bars, IQ Mix hydration mixes, and IQ Joe mushroom coffees are delicious, low sugar brain and body fuel you need to win your day. The Ultimate Sampler Pack is a great way to try all IQ bar products and flavors. You get nine IQ bars, eight IQ mix sticks, and four IQ Joe sticks. All IQ bar products are clean label certified and entirely free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, and artificial ingredients. All IQ bar products are packed with clean, delicious ingredients that keep you physically and mentally fit like magnesium, lion's mane, and more.

10:15There are plenty of flavor combinations to choose from across all IQ bar products from mint chocolate chip protein bars to blueberry pomegranate and hydration mixes to vanilla spice coffee and even a limited edition and seasonal flavors as well. With over 20 ,000 five-star reviews and counting, more people than ever are feeling their busy lifestyles with IQ Bar's brain and body boosting bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. Their ultimate sampler pack includes all three. IQ Bar has become part of my daily routine, whether it's starting my morning with IQ Joe, grabbing an IQ bar or IQ mixed, refuel or rehydrate after a hard workout.

10:51IQ bar is the best. And right now IQ bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20 % off all IQ bar products, including the ultimate sampler pack plus free shipping to get your 20 % off text truth to 64 ,000 text truth to 64 ,000. That's truth to 64 ,000 message and data rates may apply. See terms for details.

11:16Ben Meiselas:Now, I'll show you what's going on just so you see that this is becoming a major issue, of course, on the right wing. I mean, you have Tucker Carlson right here talking about how former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, Tucker said he called me and he was terrified about being implicated in the cover-up of documents regarding the alleged assassination attempts. And Bongino was literally having like a panic attack and a breakdown as the deputy FBI director. And Tucker recounts the panic attack by Bongino calling him. Here, play this clip right here. I'm hoping this is it. What's your interpretation of this post?

11:55Well, as noted, that's the 39th post that has made the same claim. And the first 38 have proven false. so but like you i am fundamentally an optimist i wake up in a cheerful mood every single every single morning almost without fail so i want to believe that i i think a lot of i've always thought a lot of trump i literally campaigned for him i wasn't getting paid i did it because i wanted to so you know i want to believe that i just can't overstate however that iran's fundamental demands, the ones from which they will not move, they're not negotiable, are going to be really hard to accept because there's just no way around the fact that they're going to control one of the most important pieces of real estate on the planet.

12:48Ben Meiselas:Then you have MAGA Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin speaking with right-wing podcaster Miranda Devine. I mean, folks, I'm showing you right here. These were like Trump's top allies. These are like, this is Trump's former crew right here. Here's what they said. Play this clip. Veers doesn't prove causation, and that's true. But again, if you are perfectly healthy and you went and got a jab and you died that day or within one or two days, I know what I would be blaming. Now, there may be cases where people were in bad health anyway, and that just tipped them over and really the cause of death was something else.

13:26But the bigger revelation, Steve, was what we unveiled three weeks ago, which is still not being covered by the mainstream media. And that is that on March 1st of 2021, Peter Marks, the head of CBER, the division within the FDA that approves vaccines and then surveils the safety of them after approval, was briefed that their algorithm that analyzed the VAERS safety system was gonna hide and mask safety signals. 26 days later, he had a data run on a new algorithm that unmasked, they had 49 cases of extreme masking revealed, 25 safety signals, including sudden cardiac death, pulmonary infarction, Bell's palsy, different types of strokes.

14:11Next three months, they got similar type of data runs with the new algorithm showing more safety signals, more different types of sudden death. They didn't pin a badge on Dr. Anna Scharstmann, who's the data mining expert that showed on this. They shunned her off to the side. They ordered her to cease and desist. And they decided to use the algorithm that they knew that they were warned was going to hide safety signals. And they're clinging to that to this day.

14:36Ben Meiselas:And then you have Marjorie Taylor Greene posting, the medical examiner for Thomas Crooks is a dual American Israeli citizen, didn't do the full toxicology report and rushed to have crooks cremated two days later with bullet fragments still in him. Why won't the Trump administration release the information? And then you had Tucker Carlson doing an interview with a reporter on this very subject as well. Here, let's play this clip. I guess another big unanswered question I have has to do with this seemingly incomplete toxicology report, which, you know, I hesitate to mention this because I don't know the significance of this, but the person who wrote this report, the medical examiner in Pittsburgh who autopsied crooks, released the body for cremation with fragments and still inside, insists that Zaloponi never hit him, and then either doesn't test certain specimens from crooks or didn't put him in his report.

15:33This guy is actually a dual Israeli citizen who was in Israel after October 7th helping identify the bodies there. So, you know, again - Actually? Actually, yeah. This is in the front page of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. He's actually pictured, he's standing next to a guy named Chen Kogel, who is an Israeli and a source of a lot of these dubious claims about beheaded babies. Yeah, and Goldschmidt's standing right next to him. I guess he volunteered and went over there to help. And again, I'm not - He is a dual citizen. He is a dual citizen. Yeah, that's correct. And he's the medical examiner who did at best an incomplete job with the autopsy, or of the report anyway of crooks yeah that's a hell of a nine or ten ten month run for his career to go from you know responding to october 7th to autopsying uh crooks and yeah again i'm not necessarily just suggesting anything but because he's such a key player we do need to know and he is not the medical examiner that victims dead people in butler township pennsylvania would normally go to?

16:54No, not at all. I mean, again, the excuse was that they had more advanced facilities, but then they do this kind of run-of-the-mill autopsy and toxicology. So the fireman who was killed at Butler went to the local medical examiner, but Thomas Crooks went to this medical examiner, the dual citizen. Well, actually, Corey Comparatory was taken to Allegheny County as well, but they've got contradictory excuses where they say they took Corey there to avoid the press attention at the Butler office, and then Thomas was supposedly sent there for the more advanced facilities. So, um, the facilities that allowed him to be cremated with the fragments still in him and didn't list the testing of his hair.

17:36Okay. Um, that's really, really interesting. Has he, and he has not spoken to this medical examiner? No, he hasn't. He did testify at an open hearing where Clay Higgins pressed him. Clay Higgins, you know, say what you will about him, but I think he's been pretty good on this story. He's the only guy in government who's emphasized Aaron Zaloponi's heroics. And Higgins is trying to press Goldschmidt about, like, how could you possibly say that Zaloponi didn't hit anything? And Goldschmidt just insisted that the Secret Service was the only person who shot crooks that day.

18:13Ben Meiselas:Now, Donald Trump, when he was giving his last public event. And by the way, that's kind of odd. He hasn't really had a public speech since this event. He did what, like two weeks ago in Wisconsin? Remember that weird event? Remember what he said about his ear? Play this clip. Or a small business. Now, I saw it myself. You have a way of life that sometimes you're land rich and cash poor. Sometimes you have lots of different conditions. But people that are on farms love being on farms. You wouldn't trade my life. You wouldn't want my life. Believe me, you don't want it. Your life is much better than my life.

18:52I will tell you, your ear wasn't a little pierced over here. You didn't get pierced. You have a nice, safe, beautiful life. But I've seen

18:59Ben Meiselas:And then remember, especially as we talk about this UFC fight on Sunday, remember what he said to Joe Rogan when Rogan was like, let me see your ear where you claim an AR-15 bullet blasted your ear can i see like the mark that it left because if you get if you get hit in the face by an ar-15 it doesn't just leave a little nip okay it it it it it it hurts you it hurts you a little bit here let's play this clip i was uh he was a nice guy shot you i was like he's got to come in here it's all about timing it's all about the timing timing's perfect do you even have a scar in your ear you got anything on there i do what we say so right over here It's a tiny little mark.

19:43It zicked right there. It healed up pretty fucking good. Yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah, it's a little... It's not like some of the wrestlers, some of the UFC fighters. No, you didn't get cauliflower. No, no, no. It was sort of like a top shot. Mm-hmm. The point of the bullet was a little of the ass, but you see the things take it off a little bit, but it makes me a tougher guy. You know, the fighters, you know...

20:08Ben Meiselas:Well, there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. And thanks for watching.