Judicial Watch TAKES AIM at DOJ Over Butler Attack

Department of Justice seal on American flag background

Judicial Watch is taking the Justice Department to court for answers about the would-be assassin who nearly took President Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the question on everyone’s mind is: what exactly is the government hiding from the American people this time?

At a Glance

Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against the DOJ to force the release of records on Thomas Matthew Crooks, the failed Trump assassin.
Federal agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, face mounting scrutiny over security lapses at the July 2024 Trump rally in Butler, PA.
Explosives, surveillance drones, and a digital paper trail suggest Crooks’s attack was highly premeditated, yet key information remains withheld.
The legal battle renews focus on government transparency and the public’s right to know about threats to national security and political figures.

A Watchdog Takes On Washington’s Wall of Silence

Judicial Watch, the government watchdog that’s made a living exposing bureaucratic incompetence and corruption, has had enough of the Justice Department’s stonewalling. After the attempted assassination of President Trump by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally last July, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demanding all records related to the attack. Predictably, the FBI and DOJ clammed up—refusing to turn over anything of substance, as if the details behind the most brazen attack on an American political figure in decades were none of our business.

With the Biden years behind us and President Trump back in office, you’d think the bureaucrats running our federal agencies would have learned a thing or two about accountability. Not so. Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, filed after months of silence from the feds, is just the latest skirmish in an ongoing war between transparency and the government’s itch to keep the public in the dark—especially when it comes to their own failures. When a sitting president’s life is nearly snuffed out in broad daylight, the American people deserve answers, not red tape and excuses.

The Anatomy of a Preventable Tragedy

On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop during a Trump campaign rally, wounding Trump, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore, and injuring two others before being killed by Secret Service marksmen. Crooks had registered for the event, flown a drone for reconnaissance, and left a digital footprint that included searches on presidential assassinations and mental health issues. The FBI found explosives in his car and home, along with a remote transmitter and multiple electronic devices—all signs of careful planning and clear intent.

Despite all these red flags, Crooks slipped through the cracks. Security experts, congressional task forces, and everyone with a shred of common sense have pointed out that the Secret Service and law enforcement dropped the ball—again. This wasn’t a random act; it was a well-planned assault, and the agencies tasked with protecting our leaders failed. Yet instead of coming clean, the DOJ and FBI have opted for secrecy, leaving Judicial Watch and the public to fight for scraps of information.

Why the Secrecy? And Who Benefits?

The attempted assassination of a former and now sitting president during a powder-keg election year is not just a security lapse—it’s a national trauma. But rather than provide transparency, the DOJ has circled the wagons. Judicial Watch is also suing the Department of Homeland Security for Secret Service records, and has managed to pry loose local police bodycam footage and some records. But the real story—the one that reveals how a would-be assassin got this close to Trump—remains locked behind bureaucratic doors.

Why? Is it to protect the reputations of government agencies that failed in their most basic duty? Is it to avoid public outrage over security protocols that clearly weren’t up to the task? Or is it just the classic reflex of a bloated bureaucracy, always more worried about covering its own backside than serving the American people? Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton has demanded immediate transparency, echoing the frustration of every citizen who’s tired of being treated like an afterthought by their own government.

The Stakes: Transparency or More of the Same?

As the FBI continues its investigation, sifting through Crooks’s digital devices and interviewing witnesses, the legal battle over public access to records is heating up. Judicial Watch’s lawsuits are about more than just paperwork; they’re about restoring faith in the institutions that are supposed to protect us. If the government can’t—or won’t—come clean after an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, what hope is there for accountability on anything else?

The fallout is already being felt. The Secret Service is under the microscope, calls for reform are growing louder, and the public is left wondering if anyone in Washington is truly interested in fixing what’s broken. For families of the victims, for supporters who packed that rally, and for anyone who still believes in the rule of law, the demand is simple: No more secrets, no more excuses. The American people want the truth—not another government cover-up.