Trump assassination attempt: FBI contracts Israeli firm to help with gunman's encryption, source says
The FBI has contracted the Israeli tech firm Cellebrite to help in its investigation into Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old Pennsylvania man who tried to kill former President Trump at a rally on July 13 and mortally wounded a supporter in the crowd instead, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
American law enforcement agencies have tapped the company for years for its ability to break into smartphones from a range of Big Tech firms and using different mobile operating systems.
However, while a Cellebrite software patch helped investigators get into Crooks' phone within 24 hours of the shooting, the company is not privy to any of the investigation's findings, according to the source.
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The FBI told Fox News Digital Wednesday it does not comment on the tools or techniques it uses and could not confirm or deny Cellebrite's involvement in the Crooks probe.
The wider investigation involves more than just accessing that data on Crooks' phone. Providers of encrypted messaging services have been served legal process, and the bureau is awaiting responses from them.
While the FBI obtained a shocking search history and other evidence from the gunman's phone after he struck Trump in the ear and critically injured two other spectators, they ran into trouble with encrypted apps, authorities told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"I think we've experienced a range of returns because some of the applications that he was using online were encrypted in nature," FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said during the hearing Tuesday under questioning from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
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Once investigators get a search warrant or other legal authorization, Cellebrite provides tools that can help access encrypted apps and hidden data on a suspect's smartphone, the firm's chief marketer, David Gee, told Fox News.
Most present-day smartphone apps use some kind of encryption, he added, and it is not uncommon for them to store data outside the United States.
"Whether that application was created in the U.S., in Europe, in Asia, the chances are that they have some encryption built into them to ensure that the data is transferred backwards and forwards, and stored on the device, generally encrypted," he said.
However, reports that Crooks used encrypted apps and had data stored overseas have raised questions about who he was talking to – and about what. Especially after federal authorities acknowledged they were aware of an Iranian threat on Trump's life before the failed assassination attempt.
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While Abbate said investigators have found no information that Crooks had any co-conspirators, "foreign or domestic," he added that the encrypted information remains a wild card and said investigators are keeping an open mind until they get all the results back.
The FBI has gained access to some of Crooks' emails, he said, but some of his encrypted communications remained unavailable. Authorities are also awaiting responses to legal requests from some of the companies behind the apps.
Investigators are also continuing to examine information that they have received, including activity from social media accounts that may have been used by the gunman and espoused what Abbate called "differing points of view."
On Friday, Trump revealed he would be returning to Butler for another rally to honor the bystander who Crooks killed with a stray bullet.
Crooks fatally struck 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and critically wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.