Was Donald Trump actually hit by a bullet? FBI chief isn’t sure
- There’s ‘some question’ about whether the ex-US president’s bloodied ear was caused by a piece of shrapnel, lawmakers were told
![Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18. Photo: AFP](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/26/0e472a37-d482-49de-84aa-0b3f54d63b4c_6c3e8614.jpg?itok=KsT1LTHe&v=1721938219)
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump earlier this month, the US former president said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear”.
Now FBI Director Christopher Wray cast some doubt on this on Wednesday when he said before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee that it was not clear whether Trump was struck by a bullet or shrapnel at Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I think, with respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, hit his ear,” Wray said.
His comment was in response to a question from the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, who asked where the eight shots fired by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks went.
Wray added: “So it’s conceivable, although as I sit here right now I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to, you know, causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else. But I believe we’ve accounted for all of the shots in the cartridges.”
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