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Trump says ‘American spirit’ triumphs over ‘forces of evil’ on anniversary of Butler assassination attempt

Trump says ‘American spirit’ triumphs over ‘forces of evil’ on anniversary of Butler assassination attempt

President Donald Trump on Sunday reflected on the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt against him, saying he believes God alone saved him that day to “restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin.” Then-candidate Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump suffered an injury to his ear after a bullet grazed him, while one person was killed and a pair of others were wounded. A Secret Service sniper fatally shot the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had climbed to the top of a nearby building. “One year ago today, at 6:11 pm—eight minutes after taking the stage on the grounds of Butler Farms to address thousands of Americans gathered at a campaign rally—rifle fire broke out, and an assassin’s bullet came within a quarter inch of ending my life and silencing our movement to restore American greatness,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday. BUTLER ONE YEAR LATER: REVISITING THE HISTORIC ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP “Yet, by the hand of providence and the grace of Almighty God, my life was spared,” he continued. “As we commemorate one year since the harrowing events of July 13, 2024, we reaffirm that the American spirit has and will always triumph over forces of evil and destruction.” The president commended those who rushed to help the victims at the rally, including first responders and ordinary rally attendees who, he said, “left as heroes.” “Those who carry scars from that July evening defended our Republic during one of our nation’s darkest hours—running to the injured amid chaos and uncertainty to provide comfort and lifesaving care,” Trump said. He added that doctors and first responders rushed to help the wounded, while rallygoers guided their fellow citizens to safety and “patriots raised their fists in the air in an outpouring of support and national pride.” “These men and women arrived at the rally grounds as ordinary Americans, but left as heroes,” Trump said.  “They represent the very best of our nation, and we are forever indebted for their kindness and compassion.” TRUMP REVEALS CRUCIAL, SPLIT-SECOND MOMENT THAT SAVED HIS LIFE DURING BUTLER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Trump also highlighted the name of Corey Comperatore, the rally attendee who was killed protecting his family during the event. “The world will never forget the tragic loss of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, veteran, and devoted husband and father,” Trump said. “When gunfire erupted, Corey did not hesitate to protect his wife and two daughters. He died a hero, and we are eternally grateful for his inspiring love, valor, and faithfulness.” The shooting in Butler raised questions about how the suspect was able to climb onto a nearby building and fire eight shots at Trump, leading to scrutiny of the Secret Service and the resignation of its director in the aftermath of the incident. Questions were further raised about the agency after another incident in September in which a gunman camped in the shrubbery outside one of Trump’s golf courses before being shot at by a Secret Service agent. Under new leadership appointed by Trump, the agency has been working to address the failures that were highlighted last year, beginning with the Butler shooting. But questions about the security lapses still remain, and the motive of the gunman remains unclear. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It remains my firm conviction that God alone saved me that day for a righteous purpose: to restore our beloved Republic to greatness and to rescue our Nation from those who seek its ruin,” Trump said in his statement. “One year after the attempt on my life in Butler, our country is in the midst of a new Golden Age. History will remember the would-be assassin for his cowardice and failure, but the magnificent legacy of the heroes of July 13, 2024, will forever be etched upon the heart of our nation.” Trump also said Sunday while speaking to reporters that he does not like to think much about the Butler assassination attempt. “I don’t like to think about it much,” Trump said. “I have a job to do, so I don’t like to think about it much. It’s a little bit of a dangerous profession being president, but I really don’t like to think about it. Better off not thinking about it.”

Biden defends controversial autopen use for mass clemency decisions in NYT interview: ‘A whole lot of people’

Biden defends controversial autopen use for mass clemency decisions in NYT interview: ‘A whole lot of people’

Former President Joe Biden defended his use of an autopen during a recent interview, shedding light on his administration’s rationale for the controversial use of the technology. The interview with the New York Times was centered around his use of an autopen during the last pardons that he made during the end of his administration. In his final weeks in office, Biden granted clemency and pardoned more than 1,500 individuals, in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president. Speaking to the Times on Thursday, Biden said that he “made every decision” on his own. HERE ARE BIDEN’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL PARDONS, WITH MOST SIGNED USING AUTOPEN “We’re talking about [granting clemency to] a whole lot of people,” the Democrat said. However, the Times reported that Biden “did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people,” according to the former president and his aides. “Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, [Biden] signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence,” the Times’s report read. Instead of repeatedly asking the president to resign updated versions of official documents, his staff used an autopen to put Biden’s signature on the final version. Biden’s comments came as Republicans attacked him for his autopen use on a massive number of official documents. In June, President Donald Trump sent a memo to the Department of Justice directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the autopen use, and to determine whether it was related to a decline in Biden’s mental state. BIDEN ONLY HAND-SIGNED ONE PARDON DURING FINAL SPREE, AND IT WAS HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL ONE “In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” Trump wrote.  “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.” Also in June, Trump told reporters that he thought it was “inappropriate” to use an autopen at all, though past presidents have used them. “Usually, when they put documents in front of you, they’re important,” Trump said. “Even if you’re signing ambassadorships or – and I consider that important, I think it’s inappropriate.” “You have somebody that’s devoting four years of their life or more to being an ambassador. I think you really deserve that person deserves to get a real signature… not an autopen signature.”  Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

DOJ brass vowed full transparency on Epstein before turning up empty-handed

DOJ brass vowed full transparency on Epstein before turning up empty-handed

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino all called for Jeffrey Epstein‘s sex-trafficking secrets to be made public long before the DOJ’s stunning about-face last week. “This systemic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’” read a joint memo leaked to Axios a week ago. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”  The revelation shocked many MAGA Republicans and Trump supporters, who had for years believed that Epstein was at the heart of a child sex trafficking ring that involved blackmailing prominent movers and shakers worldwide. Many also doubt the government’s finding that Epstein died by his own hand in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019. Trump has since brushed off the Epstein investigation as old news, slamming a reporter who asked about Epstein during a Cabinet meeting last week, and posting a Truth Social message on Saturday defending Bondi for her leadership over the case and claiming that Epstein is “somebody that nobody cares about.” “LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT! The 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and they tried to do the same thing in 2024 — That’s what she is looking into as AG, and much more,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post defending Bondi. “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.” MAGA WORLD ERUPTS OVER TRUMP’S DEFENSE OF BONDI AMID EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT As MAGA supporters continue calling for details on Epstein’s crimes and alleged ties to the world’s elite, Fox News Digital took a look back at what Bondi, Patel and Bongino had to say about Epstein before the anticlimactic memo dropped.  Just a couple of weeks after Bondi was sworn in as the nation’s 87th attorney general on Feb. 5, she joined Fox News Channel and touted her mission of transparency, most notably on Epstein, and the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.  “The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients. Will that really happen?” Fox News’ John Roberts asked Bondi in an interview on Feb. 21.  “It is sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that. I’m reviewing the JFK files, the MLK files. That is all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of the president from all these agencies,” Bondi responded.  “Have you seen anything that you said, ‘Oh, my gosh?’” Roberts asked. “Not yet,” Bondi responded.  Bondi released an initial batch of files on Epstein to a handful of social media personalities in late February, but the packets did not contain new evidence. However, Bondi once again vowed to come through on Trump’s message of transparency on Epstein’s “disgusting actions.” “This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump’s commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,” Bondi said in press release. “The first phase of files released today sheds light on Epstein’s extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.”  KASH PATEL TORCHES ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’ ABOUT BONDI FEUD AMID MAGA FUROR OVER EPSTEIN FILES The next month, in March, Bondi joined Fox News’ Sean Hannity and said she ordered the FBI to deliver evidence related to Epstein under a firm deadline, claiming a local field office in New York initially withheld evidence on Epstein.  “I gave [the FBI] a deadline of Friday at 8 a.m. to get us everything,” Bondi said. “And a source had told me where the documents were being kept, Southern District of New York, shock. So we got them all by Friday at 8 a.m.” “Thousands of pages of documents. I have the FBI going through them… and Director Patel is going to get us a detailed report as to why the FBI withheld all of those documents,” she continued at the time.  Bondi again in May fanned the flames of a potential Epstein bombshell when she stated there were no files missing from her investigation and that the DOJ had uncovered tens of thousands of videos showing Epstein with “children and child porn.” “No, the FBI, they’re reviewing tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn,” Bondi told the media in May when asked about the Epstein files.  “There are hundreds of victims,” she added. “… The FBI is diligently going through that.” FBI’S DAN BONGINO AND ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI CLASH OVER HANDLING OF EPSTEIN FILES Bondi was confronted about her February comments on the Epstein files during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, where she defended her remarks to Fox News regarding claims that the Epstein files were on her desk and ready for review.  “I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘it’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed,’ meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK files as well,” Bondi responded.  “That’s what I meant by that. Also, to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,” she continued, saying no such videos would be released or “see the light of day.”  Long before Patel was floated and named as Trump’s FBI chief, the longtime opponent of the “Deep State” claimed the FBI was in control of Epstein’s reported client list and said it could be released on Trump’s first day in office via a subpoena.  “That’s under direct control of the director of the FBI,” Patel said in 2023 during an interview with BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck. “That’s a thing I think President Trump should run on. On day one, roll out the black book.” 

The ‘tough cookies’ of Butler, Pa., remain united, hopeful one year after Trump rally shooting

The ‘tough cookies’ of Butler, Pa., remain united, hopeful one year after Trump rally shooting

No one in Butler, Pa. – population 13,000 – ever imagined their quiet community would become the backdrop to an attempted presidential assassination.  But on July 13, 2024, gunman Thomas Mathew Crooks opened fire at a rally for once and future President Donald Trump at the local farm showgrounds, a burst of violence that reverberated far beyond western Pennsylvania’s rolling hills and changed the course of American history.  One bullet grazed Trump’s ear and could have ended his life had he tilted his head even slightly. In the months that followed, Republicans rallied fiercely behind him. Trump went on to win re-election in a wave of support, with backers, and Trump himself, saying God had spared him to save America. Residents and rally attendees are still stunned that their town became synonymous with the attack, and saddened that Butler’s image as a peaceful farm community has been overshadowed by that dark day. FIRST RESPONDERS SIT DOWN WITH WIDOW OF FIREFIGHTER KILLED AT BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA TRUMP RALLY “For something like this to thrust Butler into the national and the international spotlight, it’s very sad,” J.D. Longo, mayor of Slippery Rock, told Fox News Digital. “It’s not what anybody in Butler or western Pennsylvania wants to be known for,” Longo said. “This is a place where you can start a family if you want to, have a great life.” But most of all, their hearts break for the family of the firefighter who lost his life when Crooks fired eight shots directed at Trump. “Many of us hope that, despite the ugliness and the horror of that day and the obvious loss of life that occurred, by way of losing Corey Comperatore, that Butler County can be remembered more for the way in which we unified immediately following that moment and how we came to the aid and the defense of the Comperatore family and of the president.” TRUMP REVEALS CRUCIAL, SPLIT-SECOND MOMENT THAT SAVED HIS LIFE DURING BUTLER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT There is pride in how Butler came together after the tragedy. But some can’t forget why it had to.  “It definitely put us in a rough spot,” said Zach Scherer, a Butler local who volunteered for multiple Trump campaigns. “There’s some people here that think about this all the time.” “We feel really bad for Butler,” said Erin Autenreith of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, a longtime Trump campaign volunteer and rally-goer. “I’ve gone to the farm show for years,” she added, referring to the annual event that draws families from across western Pennsylvania. She described one of her favorite attractions – an area where cows walk in to be milked and a building next door that has vanilla milkshakes made from that milk. “It’s just so wholesome. My husband likes the truck pull,” she said.  “It’s always been something we looked forward to, and now it’s tied to this.” REPORT GIVES NEW DETAILS ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT’S ‘DESCENT INTO MADNESS’ The Butler Farm Show, which allowed the Trump campaign to use its property for the rally, is also attempting to shake the association with the shooting. Members of the media are not permitted to film on the property.  “It’s put a stain on a really nice community,” said Autenreith. “It’s only 45 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. it’s like you’re transformed into, you know, a little bit like, I would say Iowa.” Still, Butler residents say the shooting did not break the community. In the days and weeks after, they pulled together to support the Comperatore family and others affected by the violence.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The general Pittsburgh area, we’re pretty tough right here – as the president would refer to as tough cookies,” said Bob Crankovic.   Lucie Roth, who had been seated just behind Trump at the Butler rally, said she didn’t hesitate to return. “The very next rally that [Trump] had, I was right behind him again.”

Tom Homan slams ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ critics who stayed silent on Biden’s ‘historic migrant deaths’

Tom Homan slams ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ critics who stayed silent on Biden’s ‘historic migrant deaths’

Border czar Tom Homan slammed lawmakers for criticizing the conditions of “Alligator Alcatraz” — the nation’s newest detention center — while remaining “silent” about the migrant death toll under former President Joe Biden.  “Alligator Alcatraz,” which was constructed in the alligator-filled swamplands of the Florida Everglades to deter escapees, has drawn scrutiny over its conditions, remote location and potential environmental impact. Critics have questioned whether the site is safe, humane or appropriate for long-term detention. Homan, however, said the center still meets guidelines under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and maintains the “highest” standards in the industry. “Detainees complain about the conditions of detention,” Homan said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “You can simply go to ICE.gov and look at the detention standards ICE has. They have the highest detention standards in the industry, but these same congressmen are complaining about ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’”  DEM LAWMAKERS TO INSPECT ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ DETENTION CENTER, CITING SAFETY CONCERNS Homan argued that the lawmakers condemning the facility were noticeably absent when migrant deaths surged under the Biden administration. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by Fox News, 856 migrants died attempting to cross the southern border in fiscal year 2022 — the highest number ever recorded at the time. “You didn’t see them complaining about, under Biden administration, people being held in a border patrol parking lot surrounded by a fence and sweltering heat,” Homan said. “They ignored four years of open borders, historic migrant deaths, historic Americans dying from fentanyl, historic numbers of women and children being sex trafficked.” TRUMP SAYS ONLY WAY OUT OF ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ IS DEPORTATION The border czar claimed that half a million children were trafficked into the country during Biden’s presidency — a crisis he said was not criticized heavily — and asserted that the administration under President Donald Trump has done more to locate those children. “You didn’t hear a word about half a million children being trafficked in the country and them not being able to locate 300,000,” Homan said. “President Trump, this administration, is finding thousands of those children.”  SELF-DEPORT OR END UP IN ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ,’ NOEM WARNS MIGRANTS DURING TRUMP VISIT Homan said lawmakers who failed to push for stronger border security remained “silent because they’re complicit” in the crises that unfolded under the Biden administration. “You can’t have strong national security in this country if we don’t have border security,” Homan said. “We got to know who’s coming in, what’s coming, where it’s coming from. But, instead, they kept silent and they kept feeding the American people.” Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.