(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On Friday, America First Legal released the academic records for Thomas Matthew Crooks, providing more information about the bright young student who allegedly attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The records corroborate what’s already been reported about Crooks—that he was a strikingly intelligent man who scored higher than 1500 on his SAT pre-college exam, graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County with honors, and had been accepted into the University of Pittsburgh.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
AFL has obtained the academic records of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter in the first assassination attempt against President Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This thread details the records we uncovered. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/YOyVEEdi8K
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) December 13, 2024
Similar to how Headline USA obtained Crooks’s autopsy report and the 911 call his dad made to police, AFL had to fight to obtain the CCAC academic records. And according to the AFL’s appeal docket, the Justice Department tried to stop the academic records from being disclosed.
Indeed, AFL and counsel Wally Zimolong first requested Crooks’s academic records just four days after the July 13 shooting. CCAC denied the request, setting off the lengthy appeals process.
Among other reasons, the community college said it couldn’t disclose the records because they were subject to a federal grand jury investigation—suggesting that others may have been investigated in relation to the July 13 Butler shooting. Headline USA reported about the grand jury investigation in August.
To support its argument against AFL, the community college submitted a July 20 subpoena it received from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Smollar. CCAC also submitted an email it received from Smollar on July 23, telling college officials that the records were to be kept secret due to the grand jury investigation.
Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) submitted a grand jury subpoena it received from the DOJ in its fight w/ @America1stLegal to keep Thomas Crooks' academic records secret. CCAC argued that it couldn't disclose the records because of the grand jury probe.
In a win for… pic.twitter.com/czscLSoZbX— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 16, 2024
“I can confirm that all records that we obtain in response to a federal grand jury subpoena are confidential. Moreover, as we discussed, the records produced by CCAC to the FBI regarding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump are part of an active FBI criminal investigation,” Smollar wrote to Tony DiTommaso, CCAC’s chief legal officer.
“Section 708 (b)(16) of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law exempts from disclosure records relating to or resulting in a criminal investigation. Please let me know if you have any further questions,” Smollar added.
However, the college and the DOJ were unsuccessful in keeping the records hidden. On Nov. 19, 2024, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records issued a final determination that CCAC is required to provide AFL with the requested student records.
“The Community College asserts that Mr. Crooks is the subject of an investigation and the records were obtained as part of a Grand Jury Investigation. However, the responsive records do not automatically become exempt because they have some connection to a criminal proceeding or is part of a criminal investigation,” Appeals Officer Lyle Hardcraft wrote in his Nov. 19 decision.
“Accordingly, the requested records are not exempt under Section 708(b)(16) of the RTKL.” CCAC provided the records to AFL after the decision.
Meanwhile, the July grand jury probe apparently didn’t yield any indictments. Butler residents are lobbying their district attorney, Richard Goldinger, to launch his own grand jury investigation, but Goldinger has refused to do so.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
