Evan Vucci
- The FBI confirmed on Friday that Donald Trump's ear was hit by a bullet or a bullet fragment.
- The FBI's director previously said there's "some question" whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel.
- A firearms expert told BI that a bullet or shrapnel would have done a similar amount of damage.
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump earlier this month, the 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."
The FBI confirmed Trump's assertions Friday evening, saying that the shooter who aimed his rifle at the former president had indeed hit his ear.
"What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle," the FBI said in a Friday statement, per multiple news outlets.
Prior to Friday, FBI Director Christopher Wray cast some doubt 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 on Wednesday.
His comment was in response to a question from the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), 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."
Jordan followed up, "It's my understanding that the very first one was the one that hit the president. The very first shot. Or is that not accurate?"
"As I sit here right now, I don't know the answer to that. I believe we know the answer to that. I just don't have it in front of me," Wray responded.
The gunman — who was shot dead by the Secret Service —opened fire from a rooftop just minutes into Trump's July 13 rally, leaving the former president's ear bloodied, one attendee dead, and two others injured.
When asked for comment Thursday regarding Wray's testimony about there being a question of whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Business Insider: "Anyone who believes this conspiracy bullshit is either mentally deficient or willfully peddling falsehoods for political reasons."
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, appointed Wray as FBI director in 2017.
The FBI told BI in a statement that since the day of the attack the agency "has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims."
"FBI Director Wray provided extensive congressional testimony on Wednesday about the FBI's investigation. This was a heinous attack and the FBI is devoting enormous resources to learn everything possible about the shooter and what led to his act of violence. The FBI's Shooting Reconstruction Team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation remains ongoing," the agency said.
Meanwhile, firearms expert Peter Diaczuk told BI that whether a bullet or shrapnel struck Trump, both would have done a similar amount of damage to his ear and that the former president would not have known the difference.
"They're both going to rip the ear apart. They're both passing by at a relatively high rate of speed," said Diaczuk, a professor of forensic science at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Additionally, Diaczuk told BI that it's most likely that it was, in fact, a bullet that hit Trump's ear instead of shrapnel.
In order for a bullet to break up and cause a fragment, "it's got to hit something substantial to disrupt its integrity," Diaczuk explained.
"And from what I saw — clearly, I don't have as much information as people who have been to the scene looking at things — but from what I saw the day of and the day after, was that it was a clear line of sight between the sniper's nest and the podium," said Diaczuk. "And if that's the case, then there's nothing to cause the breakup of a bullet."
"I don't see any indication of an intervening object to cause the bullet to fragment," he said.
Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump's White House doctor, said in a previously released note that the former president "sustained a gunshot wound" that caused "significant bleeding" and "marked swelling" of his entire upper ear.
"The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear," the memo read. "The bullet track produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down from the cartilaginous surface of the ear."
Update July 26, 2024: This story was updated to include a statement from the FBI that a "bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces," hit Trump's ear.