Contact The Editor
Articles By This Author
It was stunning news. How could the FBI do such a thing? The shooter, James Hodgkinson, expressed bitter hatred for Republicans, brought guns when he moved to the Washington area, had a hit list of GOP lawmakers in his pocket when he approached the baseball practice, checked to make sure the men on the field were in fact Republicans, and then opened fire. He nearly killed House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, badly wounded a lobbyist, and hurt two others before being shot to death by Scalise's security detail and Alexandria, Virginia police.
It was absolutely clearly, without any doubt, an act of domestic political terrorism. And yet in November, 2017, when the FBI briefed House lawmakers on the investigation, they announced that they had determined the attack was an episode of "suicide by cop" -- that is, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Hodgkinson was trying to kill himself, not Republicans.
Now, GOP lawmakers are pushing FBI Director Christopher Wray to explain how the bureau came to that conclusion. Today, the House members who were present at the baseball field that day are sending a new letter demanding Wray not only re-investigate the shooting itself but also investigate how FBI investigators came to ignore the evidence and reach the "suicide by cop" verdict.
The Republicans remind Wray that Virginia authorities investigated the shooting and found a clear-cut act of terrorism. The letter cites a Commonwealth's Attorney for Alexandria conclusion that "the evidence in this case establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect, fueled by rage against Republican legislators, decided to commit an act of terrorism as that term is defined by the Code of Virginia. The suspect...ambushed a peaceful assembly of people practicing baseball and began to fire indiscriminately in an effort to kill and maim as many people as possible."
Given that reasonable -- and official -- conclusion by Virginia investigators, it's no wonder Republican lawmakers were dumbstruck when the FBI gave them the "suicide by cop" ruling.
The Republicans also believe the FBI's actions warrant a new look in light of the bureau's current emphasis on investigating acts of domestic violent extremism, which officials say is one of the greatest threats to national security.
To give one very prominent example, how could the FBI investigate the Capitol riot as an act of domestic violent extremism while ruling out domestic violent extremism in the baseball shooting? It makes no sense.
"We all agree that violent extremism of any kind must be rooted out and addressed by our law enforcement agencies," the lawmakers write. "But we cannot presume to understand the scope of this issue if our law enforcement agencies do not investigate all instances of extremism, regardless of motivating ideology, with equal vigor. We fear that the FBI's inability or unwillingness to fully investigate this shooting as a matter of domestic extremism four years ago leaves a blind spot within the bureau in fully assessing the risks we face today."
The letter is signed by Scalise and fellow Republican Representatives Brad Wenstrup, H. Morgan Griffith, Rodney Davis, Jeff Duncan, Barry Loudermilk, Mo Brooks, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman, Roger Williams, Scott DesJarlais, Bill Johnson, Chuck Fleischmann, Kevin Brady, Trent Kelly, Gary Palmer, and Jim Jordan.
All have some connection to the shooting, either by being present on the field that day, or being included on Hodgkinson's hit list, or attending the November 2017 briefing in which the FBI revealed the "suicide by cop" finding.
Will the Republican lawmakers be able to force the FBI to review its actions? It's unclear. At a hearing last month, Wray, who was not director at the time of the "suicide by cop" briefing, indicated a willingness to look into it.
But there is also this reality: Republicans are in the minority in the House, and even when they were in the majority had a hard time pushing the FBI to reveal its internal deliberations and investigate itself.
So now, even with a case as clearly outrageous as this one, it's hard to say whether the FBI will act or whether it will throw the Republicans' demand down the memory hole and go on as if it never happened.
We'll see.
(COMMENT, BELOW)