FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday defended the scope of the bureau’s investigation into would-be presidential assassin Thomas Crooks, pushing back on Tucker Carlson’s claim that federal authorities misled the public about the 20-year-old gunman’s online footprint and motives.

Patel’s statement, posted on X, came after the former Fox News host released a 34-minute video alleging the FBI under both former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump has “hidden from the public what they know” about Crooks, who opened fire on Trump at a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. At the time of the assassination attempt, the bureau was led by Director Chris Wray.