Tucker Carlson Claims Trump Shut Down Butler Probe After Bongino ‘Confession’
Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson is pushing a fresh conspiracy theory about the attempted assassination of President Trump โ claiming the president himself ordered federal investigators to back off the probe into the July 2024 shooting in Butler, Pa.
Carlson made the explosive allegation during an appearance on Thursday on entrepreneur Mario Nawfalโs show, where he recounted what he described as a series of conversations with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel regarding lingering questions surrounding the attack.
The claim was quickly shot down by Bongino, who publicly denied Carlsonโs account on Friday and blasted the former cable news host as a โnepo baby.โ
โI know that, about Butler, I know that Trump shut down the investigation into Butler. That is a fact,โ Carlson told Nawfal. โDan Bongino told me that when he worked at the FBI.โ
Carlson alleged Bongino became visibly rattled after Carlson confronted him about social media posts purportedly written by gunman Thomas Crooks that Carlson claims the FBI falsely said did not exist.
โDan Bongino himself was terrified when I spoke to him in December,โ Carlson said.
The conservative commentator claimed he had โaccidentally came into possessionโ of social media posts allegedly authored by Crooks in the months and years before the shooting. Carlson said he contacted both Patel and Bongino seeking answers about why the FBI had allegedly concealed their existence.
โAnd Dan Bongino became hysterical with me on the phone,โ Carlson claimed. โIโve known Dan a long time for many years and always gotten along with him.โ
โHe was clearly terrified. I didnโt get it at first, but he was hysterical,โ Carlson continued. โAnd ultimately, after a long series of text exchanges, which I still have, and phone conversations, he said, โLook, take it up with Trump. Heโs the one who shut down the investigation.โโ
Carlson said the alleged exchange occurred during the second week of December and left him questioning why Trump would halt an investigation into an attempt on his own life.
โThat was the moment and I realized, โOh wow, thereโs no good explanation for shutting down an investigation into your own attempted murder,โโ Carlson said.
Watch:
Crooks, 20, opened fire during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, grazing Trumpโs ear, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore and seriously wounding two others before Secret Service snipers fatally shot him.
Authorities have said Crooks acted alone and have found no evidence linking him to a broader plot. However, the absence of a clear manifesto or publicly known motive has fueled persistent conspiracy theories online.
Carlson, once one of Trumpโs most influential media allies, has increasingly broken with the president in recent months. He has repeatedly criticized Trump over the administrationโs handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and U.S. involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Earlier this year, Carlson suggested Trumpโs worldview changed after the Butler shooting.
โHe spent his campaign in the 2024 race arguing against regime change war, attacking people in favor of it โ and then he launched it,โ Carlson said on his own show. โAnd not just launched it, but became this kind of enthusiastic tool of the government of Israel.โ
Bongino forcefully rejected Carlsonโs latest allegations Friday morning in a post on X, denying he ever told Carlson that Trump shut down the Butler investigation.
The former FBI official also took a personal swipe at Carlson, dismissing the claims and mocking the commentator as a โnepo baby.โ












