In a significant development, Kash Patel, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has handed over all the documents related to the 2017 congressional baseball practice shooting to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
This move has sparked a wave of criticism against the FBI, with the Judiciary, Intelligence, and Oversight committees issuing a joint report on Tuesday, accusing the FBI of mishandling the investigation and attempting to conceal the shooter's political motivations.
According to RedState, the report alleges that the FBI downplayed the shooter's anti-Republican motives, despite possessing handwritten evidence. The report, released by the House Judiciary Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigation, scrutinized approximately 3,000 case file documents related to the attack that injured six individuals, including current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and resulted in the death of the gunman, James T. Hodgkinson.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) criticized the FBI, stating, "This is the same FBI that cant tell us who planted the pipe bomb [on Jan. 6, 2021], who cant tell us who leaked the Dobbs opinion and who can tell us who put cocaine at the White House." The report also highlighted the FBI's failure to conduct substantive interviews with the victims and eyewitnesses, develop a comprehensive timeline of events, and properly classify the case file, thereby aiding the FBI in obscuring its subpar investigative efforts and analysis.
The 2017 Congressional Baseball Game for Charity was marred by a horrific shooting incident. James Hodgkinson, 66, confirmed that Republicans were participating before firing over 60 rounds from his SKS 7.62mm rifle. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was severely injured and spent months in recovery, while four other victims were also hit. The situation could have been much worse if not for the heroic efforts of the Capitol and Alexandria Police, who neutralized Hodgkinson after a 10-minute shootout.
Despite the shooter's evident political motivations, as evidenced by his social media activity, including membership in a Facebook group called "Terminate the Republican Party," the FBI initially classified the shooting as "suicide by cop." This classification remained unchanged for four years, despite the glaring inaccuracy of their determination.
The report accused the FBI of using false statements, manipulating known facts, and employing biased and flawed analysis to support a narrative that Hodgkinson committed suicide by cop without any connection to domestic terrorism. The Committees also revealed that a handwritten note, which clearly indicated the shooter's intentions, was ignored by the federal authorities. The note listed several Republicans as targets, further solidifying the argument that the attack was a "premeditated assassination attempt on Republican congressmen by a radical, left-wing political extremist, who was seeking to affect the conduct of our government."
The credibility of the FBI, once a revered institution, has been severely undermined due to politicization and weaponization under the Obama and Biden administrations. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and the House GOP Committees are striving to rectify the situation, but the task is daunting given the extent of the corruption. This report serves as yet another testament to the depth of the problem.
The report unequivocally demonstrates the FBI's gross mismanagement of the investigation into the 2017 Congressional baseball shooting. It accuses the FBI of ignoring critical and evident facts to propagate a false narrative that the shooting was not politically motivated.
The revelations in this report underscore the urgent need for reform within the FBI to restore public trust and ensure the integrity of future investigations.
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