‘Saying that there have been no substantiated ties doesn’t mean that the investigation has concluded that there are no ties,’ he says.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said he wants the FBI to “come to a conclusion” on whether the two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this year were linked to Iran.
Speaking to CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Oct. 6, Turner called on the FBI to release its findings from investigations into would-be assassins Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at Trump during a Pennsylvania rally in July, and Ryan Wesley Routh, who prosecutors say hid at Trump’s Florida golf course with a rifle for 12 hours with the intention to kill Trump before a Secret Service agent found him.
In the interview, CBS News’s Margaret Brennan said that the two assassination attempts “are not substantiated to have any ties to the state of Iran or to political actors at this time.”
“Saying that there have been no substantiated ties doesn’t mean that the investigation has concluded that there are no ties,” Turner said.
“And I want those investigations to come to a conclusion and determine whether or not either of these plots have any nexus or connection to the active plot the administration is saying that Iran is plotting in attempting to kill Donald Trump. Which, again, this administration needs to make clear to Iran—that would be an act of war, and needs to have a very strong response from the administration.”
Turner said the FBI needs to make a conclusion and “get to the truth.”
“I don’t think they would be able to get to a point to release information that would conclusively indicate that either of those individuals acted completely alone,” he said.
In the Crooks case, the FBI has not publicly disclosed a motive. Days after the July 13 attempt, FBI officials said that Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service snipers, had acted alone.
