HARRISBURG, Penn. – The FBI’s inquiry into the botched assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which took place on July 13, has reignited the debate about whether Big Tech companies should create a backdoor for law enforcement to circumvent their “unbreakable” encryption.
Prior to the attack on Trump, the Secret Service had received information regarding an alleged Iranian conspiracy to assassinate him, as outlined by federal law enforcement officials. Although experts harbor doubts regarding a link between the 20-year-old would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and Iran, they have struggled to retrieve some of his communications 18 days post-incident.
Consequently, it remains uncertain who he may have been communicating with, if anyone, and the subjects of those discussions.
FBI STILL DOES NOT HAVE COMPLETE ACCESS TO SHOOTER’S ONLINE ACTIVITY
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is hurried offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“We have faced challenges in retrieving certain returns because some online applications he was using were encrypted,” stated FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, responding to inquiries from South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham.
While the FBI has managed to access some of Crooks’s emails, several of his encrypted messages remain unreadable as of Tuesday.
“If he were communicating with a foreign entity—which I don’t believe any foreign nation would engage this individual, so I’m not particularly concerned—but if it were a vast plot orchestrated by Iran, what’s our solution?” questioned Graham.
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U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe testifies before a Joint Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing that reviewed the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“Senator, as we have discussed, we require a solution that allows lawful access,” Abbate conveyed.
For many years, the FBI and other law enforcement entities have been trying—and failing—to secure backdoor access to encrypted data. Although lawmakers are hesitant to push for it due to concerns about privacy and due process, applications that provide encrypted communication services have gained popularity not just among private users but also among terrorist organizations, criminal cartels, and drug traffickers, and are readily available on both Apple and Android platforms, usually at no cost.
On July 13, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks ascended a roof within 150 yards of Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. With an AR-15 rifle, he attempted to kill the former president, narrowly missing his head and grazing his ear, while taking the life of one attendee and critically injuring two others. This alarming security breach prompted numerous investigations into both the failures of event security and the motivations of the gunman. The attack occurred amid escalating threats from Iran.
Drone footage captures lawmakers scaling the AGR building from which Thomas Crooks fired on July 13. (Fox News Digital)
“The Iranian regime has a long history of targeting individuals and our nation,” Abbate stated during the hearing with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut. “We have discussed previous instances; they have openly called for the assassination of former President Trump.”
However, regarding the events of July 13, Abbate noted that investigators have found no evidence of Crooks having any accomplices, “neither foreign nor domestic.”
“To be clear, we have no evidence of that. We are not excluding any possibilities and are examining all angles,” Abbate informed the senators on Tuesday.
If Crooks had connections to a terrorist organization or violent cartels, the high-ranking FBI official warned Senate committee members that a mechanism for “lawful access” to a suspect’s encrypted communications is imperative.
TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT STEMMED FROM ‘DELIBERATE PLANNING,’ FBI REPORTS
Undated photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who is alleged to be the shooter in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Numerous current and former law enforcement officials have contended that a hard-coded decryption solution would support their efforts to safeguard the public from significant threats. Conversely, those opposed to a digital master key argue that it would create privacy risks for law-abiding citizens and a vulnerability for criminal hackers.
The government has been seeking backdoor access to Big Tech encryption for a lengthy period, as noted by Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and counterterrorism specialist.
“Regardless of the encryption status, our legal system has been functioning for 250 years—obtain a warrant,” Mauro explained to Fox News Digital. “By developing encryption that even the creators cannot break, you undermine the role of the judiciary. Essentially, the only ‘judge’ becomes the individual who can decrypt.”
However, this approach is a “slippery slope,” cautioned David Gelman, a former prosecutor turned defense attorney in the Philadelphia area.
“This would erode trust in companies like Apple and Signal,” he told Fox News Digital.
Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill on July 30, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg)
Both companies, Apple and Signal, promote user privacy as a key feature.
“There is only a limited amount of information that should be accessible,” Gelman remarked. “[It represents] a significant invasion of privacy.”
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Even if a court were to issue a warrant, the inability to crack unbreakable encryption makes it irrelevant if government analysts cannot decrypt the code.
FBI officials indicated earlier this week that Crooks’ encryption has presented a significant challenge, which includes encrypted email accounts based outside the U.S. While the FBI has found no evidence of foreign involvement in Crooks’ plot, the investigation remains open until they can analyze his concealed communications.
Investigators are also continuing to assess information gathered, including activities from social media accounts that Crooks may have used to promote what Abbate described as “differing viewpoints.”
On Friday, Trump announced plans to return to Butler for another rally commemorating the bystander killed by Crooks’s errant bullet.
Crooks fatally shot 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and critically injured David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
