Washington – The FBI said Friday that former President Donald Trump was wounded by a bullet after FBI director Christopher Wray testified earlier this week that there were still “questions” about what hit Trump’s right ear. during the assassination attempt at a public meeting in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or broken into smaller pieces, fired from the rifle of the deceased subject,” the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs said in a statement provided to CBS News.
Earlier on Friday, Republican Ronny Jackson of Texas, who was former President Donald Trump’s White House physician, said Trump had been hit by a bullet in his right ear.
Jackson wrote in a memorandum to “concerned citizens of the United States” that he shared on social media that he continued to monitor Trump’s health after the incident. trying to kill in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
“The would-be assassin fired several rounds from fairly close range using a high-powered rifle, with one bullet striking the former president, and now Republican presidential candidate, in the right ear,” Jackson wrote.
They said they had reviewed Trump’s medical records from Butler Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a “gunshot wound to the right ear,” and agreed with the initial assessment and treatment of medical staff at the hospital.
“There is no evidence that there was anything but a bullet,” Jackson wrote. He said Trump is “recovering quickly” from his injuries and is doing “very well.”
The memo from Jackson appears to have been requested by commented FBI Director Chris Wray made to the House Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Wednesday, when he said Trump’s ear was poisoned by shrapnel or a bullet.
“With former President Trump, there was some question about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” he said.
Trump attacked Wray for his comments, writing on social media that Americans no longer have confidence in the FBI. He also said Wray should resign because he was accused of lying to Congress about President Biden’s health.
“No glass, no shrapnel. The hospital called it a ‘bullet wound in the ear,’ and whatever,” the former president wrote.
Trump tapped Wray to lead the FBI in 2017 after firing former director James Comey.
The FBI said in a statement Friday that Wray provided “extensive congressional testimony” about the bureau’s investigation into the shooting, which left one rally-goer dead and Trump and two attendees injured.
“Since the day of the attack, the FBI has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an assassination attempt on former President Trump that resulted in injuries, as well as the death of a heroic father and injuries to several other victims,” the FBI said.
The bureau said a “shooting reconstruction team” was examining evidence from the scene of the attack, including bullet fragments.
Referring to Wray’s comments, Jackson wrote in a memo that Congress should correct the hearing record “as confirmed by the hospital and myself.”
Jackson served in the White House Medical Unit during the administration of President George W. Bush. He was the presidential physician under President Barack Obama and Trump, who appointed Jackson as chief medical adviser and assistant to the president in January 2019.
Jackson was elected to Congress in 2020 and represents Texas’ 13th Congressional District.
In 2022, Jackson is there brought down by the Navy from rear admiral (lower half) to captain after an investigation by the Pentagon’s internal watchdog found he engaged in inappropriate behavior during his time with the White House Medical Unit.
Released in March 2021, the The Pentagon probe was discovered Jackson “disparaged, humiliated, harassed and humiliated” his subordinates and drank recklessly during the presidential trip, when he was responsible for providing medical care and treatment for US officials.
Jackson retired from the Navy in 2019. Trump had nominated him to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2018, but reports were false, including allegations that he drank on the job and overprescribed drugs, derailed his nomination.
— Andres Triay contributed to this report.