Congressional Republicans are asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to “correct” his testimony that there was “some question” about whether Donald Trump’s ear was struck by a bullet or shrapnel.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Wray on Friday that accused him of “creating confusion” in a way that “further undercuts the agency’s credibility.” Wray had testified before a House panel Wednesday that it was unclear if Trump had been struck directly by a bullet or shrapnel, prompting Trump’s ire.
“I believe it is very important for you to correct your testimony before Congress on Wednesday when you indicated it is uncertain whether President Donald J. Trump was hit by a bullet, glass, or shrapnel. It is clear to everyone that President Trump survived an assassination attempt by millimeters, as the attempted assassin’s bullet ripped the upper part of his ear,” Graham wrote in the letter.
In the hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Wray did not contest that the July 13 shooting was an assassination attempt, or that Trump was injured during it.
But in response to a question from Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) about how close a bullet came to killing Trump, Wray said that “my understanding is that either it or some shrapnel is what grazed his ear.” When Kiley followed up to ask if Wray agreed it came “very, very close,” Wray replied: “Yes.”
Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) also asked Wray if the FBI had accounted for where all the bullets fired by the shooter went.
“There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear. … As I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else. But I believe we’ve accounted for all the shots and cartridges,” Wray said in response.
The questions were a small piece of an hourslong hearing with Wray, where the FBI director revealed new details about the shooter, including that he used a drone near the rally site hours before Trump spoke, how he acquired the gun he used and that he Googled questions about the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
But Wray’s comments about potential shrapnel sparked ire among congressional Republicans and Trump himself.
“It was unfortunately a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. … No wonder the once storied FBI has lost confidence of America,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Thursday.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), the former White House physician and staunch Trump supporter, also clapped back at Wray, writing in a Friday memo that “there is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.”
In a statement on Thursday, the FBI said it has “been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump which resulted in his injury.”
“The FBI’s Shooting Reconstruction Team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation remains ongoing,” the bureau said.
Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.