Dayton Reporter

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, under the leadership of Chairman Rick Crawford, has released a report scrutinizing the FBI's handling of the 2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting investigation. The report assesses the FBI's analytic integrity and investigative standards, particularly during Andrew McCabe's tenure as Acting Director.

The committee's findings indicate that the FBI employed misleading statements and manipulated facts to support its narrative that shooter James Hodgkinson committed "suicide by cop," with no links to domestic terrorism. This conclusion was reached without comprehensive interviews with shooting victims or eyewitnesses and lacked a detailed timeline of events. Additionally, improper classification of the case file is noted as potentially obscuring inadequate investigative efforts.

Key observations from the report highlight that before gathering all evidence, the FBI prematurely concluded Hodgkinson’s motives were “suicide by cop.” However, evidence suggests it was a premeditated assassination attempt on Republican congressmen by a radical left-wing extremist aiming to influence government actions. The FBI reportedly withheld information contradicting its narrative, such as the absence of uniformed police during the incident and handwritten notes revealing Hodgkinson’s political motivations.

Chairman Crawford expressed gratitude towards Director Patel for providing long-requested documents. He criticized previous FBI leadership for mishandling an investigation into what he termed a politically motivated attack threatening numerous lives. Crawford emphasized his commitment to addressing issues within intelligence community analyses marred by bias.

Oversight & Investigations Chairman Jackson also extended thanks to President Trump and Director Patel for ending what he described as FBI obstruction in Congressional oversight. Jackson underscored the need for accountability and transparency within government agencies and pledged continued oversight to ensure objectivity in intelligence assessments.

The full report is available for public review.