Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino sharply disputed claims made by Joe Kent regarding the investigation into Thomas Crooks and the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, accusing Kent of misrepresenting what investigators were told and what evidence was examined.

Bongino addressed Kent’s comments during a lengthy response in which he said he wanted to set the record straight regarding allegations that federal agencies failed to fully investigate potential foreign connections or withheld information from other officials.

“I just want this on the record, in case something happens. This is what happened yesterday,” Bongino said.

Bongino said he had known Kent professionally and had previously worked with him while Kent served in national security roles.

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“This was Joe Kent, who was a friend of mine at one point. This is really sad to see the former NCTC National Counterterrorism Center director, I had worked with Joe Kent many times,” Bongino said.

According to Bongino, he personally offered Kent multiple opportunities to receive briefings regarding the investigation.

“I personally showed up at NCTC headquarters and told you I'd give you a full briefing, and your people do not lie,” Bongino said.

Kent, however, argued that questions remained unanswered about Crooks’ digital footprint and possible foreign connections.

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“Tucker was talking about in that clip that he came across through an investigative journalist that was working for Tucker. He came across Thomas Crook's online profile,” Kent said.

Kent said concerns arose because investigators had initially characterized Crooks as having a limited online presence.

“That's significant, because for quite some time, almost a year, we were told that Crooks was kind of an enigma. He didn't have much of an online persona,” Kent said.

Kent explained that after returning to government service, he sought access to Crooks’ electronic devices to determine whether any foreign connections existed.

“When I asked the FBI, in my official capacity, when we came back into the administration. I said, 'Hey, can we get our hands on crooks' phones, computers, et cetera, because we want to see if there was any foreign linkage,” Kent said.

Kent said he was initially told investigators could not access the devices.

“I was told at the time initially that we couldn't get into Crooks' devices,” Kent said.

According to Kent, investigators later reported that they had successfully accessed the devices but found nothing significant.

“And then the FBI came back and said, actually, we got into them, and there's just nothing there,” Kent said.

Kent argued that intelligence officials should still have been allowed to independently review the material.

“I said, ‘Okay, well, if there's nothing there, you should still let us see what's inside them, so that we can determine if there is any foreign nexus here.’ We were, we didn't get access to them,” Kent said.

Bongino forcefully rejected that account.

“Okay, everything he said there about what he was allowed into and what what he was not allowed into is just completely fabricated bullshit,” Bongino said.

Kent responded, “It's a data point.”

Bongino said investigators had already reviewed the matters Kent raised and had offered to brief him.

“Of course, it's a data point. We had already looked at that stuff. I was at NCTC headquarters with him in his conference room,” Bongino said.

“There were multiple witnesses to this, where I told you we'll brief you on every single question you just brought up, the Norwegian, the devices, the alleged foreign connections,” Bongino added.

Kent also claimed the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General encountered obstacles while investigating the Butler incident.

“The DHS Inspector General started looking into a lot of the details of what took place on the ground, he himself was also blocked,” Kent said.

Bongino disputed that assertion as well.

“The DHS IG office was blocked. They were in my office, in the Deputy Director Conference Room, in the management floor, in JH J Edgar Hoover, the Hoover Building, they actually showed up for a briefing and said no such thing,” Bongino said.

Bongino maintained that all available devices were examined and that investigators found no foreign links connected to Crooks.

“This was all investigated, everything he's saying, the digital files, all of it. There were no devices we did not look at. We did not find a foreign connection in the phone. We have all the phones in the digital devices,” Bongino said.

He concluded by calling the allegations baseless and accusing critics of advancing a false narrative.

“These allegations are total nonsense,” Bongino said.

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