A U.S. congressman is claiming that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allowed the body of the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump to be cremated. 

What's more, is that U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) is claiming that the FBI did so in order to impede Congress's investigation of the matter.

The accusations come in a report that Higgins released on Aug. 12, 2024.

The entire report can be read here.

The details

Higgins claims that the FBI released Thomas Matthew Crooks' body to his family just days after the 20-year-old attempted to assassinate Trump. The congressman says that he discovered this when he attempted to locate the body to examine it.

"My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact . . . the FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13 [July 13]," Higgins wrote.

The congressman went on to state, "On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc."

Higgins went on to argue that the coroner would never have released the body to the family "without specific permission from the FBI."

Accordingly, Higgins said that the FBI's release of the body was "an obstruction to any following investigative effort."

The FBI responds

The FBI has now responded to Higgins's accusations. The agency is now claiming that Higgins is simply wrong - that his allegations are false.

Fox News reports:

An FBI spokesperson tells Fox News Digital that any suggestion the agency is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination "is inaccurate and unfounded." The agency said that Crooks' body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner's office as well as state and local law enforcement partners "in keeping with normal procedures."

Higgins, though, is not buying it. He responded, saying:

My report states the precise truth, which is that the coroner released Crooks body to the family for cremation only after the FBI had specifically authorized the coroner to release Crooks' body to the family for cremation.

The congressman also argued that the overarching problem here is one of transparency - that the American public, now, will never know whether or not the coroner's investigation is accurate because no one else was allowed to view the shooter's body.

Higgins wrote:

We will actually never know. Yes, we’ll get the reports and pictures, etc., but I will not ever be able to say with certainty that those reports and pictures are accurate according to my own examination of the body.