Tucker Carlson Claims Dan Bongino Told Him President Trump Shut Down Butler Assassination Investigation

Tucker Carlson made some serious claims during a recent interview.

In an interview with Mario Nawfal, Tucker Carlson claimed former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told him that President Trump himself shut down the investigation into the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Carlson stated, “I know that Trump shut down the investigation into Butler. Dan Bongino told me that.”

Mediaite provided full quotes from Carlson:

Tucker Carlson claimed a “terrified” and “hysterical” Dan Bongino told him President Donald Trump was the one who shut down an investigation into an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, a notion Bongino is already denying.

Carlson joined Mario Nawfal on Thursday and opened up about his alleged interactions with Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel over lingering questions he has about Trump’s attempted assassination during a 2024 rally in Butler.

Thomas Crooks, 20, was killed in his perch, but the lack of a manifesto and social media postings has led to numerous conspiracy theories about the motivation of the shooting.

Carlson claimed he came into possession of social media posts by Crooks, and he had an awkward exchange with Bongino on the subject while Bongino was still serving in the Trump administration.

He said:

I know that, about Butler, I know that Trump shut down the investigation into Butler. That is a fact. Dan Bongino told me that when he worked at the FBI. And Dan Bongino himself was terrified when I spoke to him in December. It’s such a long, boring story, but basically I came into possession, I beg your pardon, of, accidentally came into possession of a lot of the social media posts that we were told didn’t exist, that were posted by Thomas Crooks in the months and years before the shooting. And I was amazed that the FBI had lied about this. So I called Kash Patel and I later called Dan Bongino and I say, you know, what is this? I’m not attacking you, it was the previous FBI administration that did this. It was Chris Wray, but what is that? And Dan Bongino became hysterical with me on the phone. I’ve known Dan a long time for many years and always gotten along with him. You know, whatever his faults, nice guy. Certainly very nice to me. I never had a problem with Dan, ever. And that problem began when I brought this information to his attention and he became a different person. He was clearly terrified. I didn’t get it at first, but he was hysterical. And ultimately, after a long series of text exchanges, which I still have, and phone conversations, he said, look, take it up with Trump. He’s the one who shut down the investigation. And that was, I think, the first or second week of December. I think it was the beginning of the second week in December. I have it written down. But that was the moment and I realized, “Oh wow, there’s no good explanation for shutting down an investigation into your own attempted murder.” This is not what we’ve been told it was.

Watch Tucker here:

The Independent provided Bongino’s response to Tucker’s claims:

A visibly furious Bongino hit back Friday on The Dan Bongino Show and said that accusing him and Trump of a cover-up into the president’s own assassination attempt was “seriously one of the most delusional things” he’d ever seen.

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Carlson is one of many MAGA figures to accuse the Trump administration of a “cover-up” without any hard evidence as questions about gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’s motive and his political leanings remain unanswered.

Former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino and Tucker Carlson are in the midst of an all-out podcast war over claims about the investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. A visibly furious Bongino hit back on his show and said Tucker Carlson’s accusations of a cover-up was ‘seriously one of the most delusional things’ he’d ever heard. He shared purported text messages to back up his side of the story
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In a final report on the shooting published at the end of last year, the FBI concluded that Crooks acted alone when he shot at Trump, clipping the top of his ear, and killing supporter Corey Comperatore. FBI Director Kash Patel said the president was “fully briefed” and “satisfied” with the report, effectively drawing a line under the matter.

Around the same time, Carlson claimed he exchanged text messages with a “clearly terrified” Bongino, informing the FBI deputy director that he came into possession of Crooks’s social media posts. He said the FBI had “lied” about their existence.

“When I brought this information to his attention and he became a different person,” Carlson said of Bongino. “He was clearly terrified. I didn’t get it at first, but he was hysterical. And ultimately, after a long series of text exchanges, which I still have, and phone conversations, he said, look, take it up with Trump,” he continued. “He’s the one who shut down the investigation.”

Bongino said Carlson was “lying” and showed what he purported were text messages the pair exchanged last year.

Watch Bongino’s full response here:

🚨 Dan Bongino shows the Text Message Exchange between himself and Tucker Carlson, proving that Tucker lied..

“He accused the President of committing a crime— He made the whole story up folks.”

Damn… Tucker. Damn..

Thank you @dbongino for releasing these.

Clip… https://t.co/9R3gLW59wA pic.twitter.com/vKLi51f5oq

— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) June 12, 2026