SWAT Counter-Sniper from Trump Rally Backs ‘Evidence Tampering’ Claims by GOP

The Heritage Foundation recently hosted a panel discussion with a handful of House GOP Representatives.

A surprise guest on the panel was one of the SWAT counter-snipers who had been deployed at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

That sniper just dropped a bombshell in terms of how the evidence is being treated in the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.

Smells Funny

The five Republicans on the panel were Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz and Cory Mills of Florida, and Chip Roy of Texas.

Also in attendance was Washington Regional SWAT counter-sniper Ben Shaffer.

Republicans have been questioning the handling of the evidence, and Shaffer agreed that something does not smell right here.

When he was asked about the “odd” pattern that had developed regarding the handling of the evidence, Shaffer said that he was “absolutely” concerned about it.

He could not believe how quickly the roof where the shooter set up had been scrubbed as well as how quickly the body of the shooter had been disposed of even before the results of the autopsy were released.

Rep. Mills asked Shaffer, “Do you find it odd that literally only days after the attempted assassination on President Donald J. Trump, while the roof was too sloped to place individuals for counter-sniper operations, that it wasn’t too sloped of a roof for the FBI to go ahead and tamper, in my opinion, with evidence by washing the roof off that may have had significant evidence on it?”

Shaffer answered in the affirmative, and Mills followed up, “Do you also find it odd … that the body of Matthew Crooks had not only been released and cremated — but that the coroner who’s responsible for releasing the body had no knowledge of it?”

Shaffer again answered in the affirmative.

When they brought up the fact that the shooter had been spotted with a range finder on the grounds of the rally and was tagged as a person of interest, Shaffer stated that it warranted “some type of either investigatory detention or stop-and-question,” neither of which occurred.

Had they done that, an innocent man would still be alive today.

To this point, we still have no idea what the motivation behind the shooting was, which has, of course, fired up the conspiracy theories.

The FBI responded to the questions by GOP officials, stating, “Any suggestion the FBI is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination which took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, is inaccurate and unfounded.

“The FBI has been working closely with our law enforcement partners to conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting, and we have followed normal procedures in the handling of the crime scene and evidence.

“The FBI continues its painstaking work on the investigation to develop as complete a picture as possible of what led to the shooting, and we remain committed to maximum transparency as we continue to share information with Congress, which includes participating in open hearings and conducting multiple direct briefings and publish information for the public regarding the ongoing investigation.

“The crime scene was released to the property owners in phases as we completed our work at the AGR building, its surroundings, and at the Butler Farm Show grounds. Nothing was rushed and everything was documented as part of the investigation.

“The FBI arranged for the cleaning of the location where the perpetrator died, which is in keeping with normal procedures. The shooter’s body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner’s office and our state and local law enforcement partners. This is also in keeping with normal procedures.”

There was definitely a time when I would have taken whatever the FBI stated as fact, but with Comey and now Wray in charge, that day has passed.

I simply do not trust leadership any longer and while I still believe in the mission of the agency, I believe the rogue element within is much larger than we initially believed.

We need an audit and a cleaning of the house to regain the American people's faith.

The question is, if Trump wins, who would that person be to lead the agency back to its glory days?