Nearly eight years after a deranged gunman opened fire on members of Congress and others at a practice session for the annual charity Congressional Baseball Game in June 2017, seriously injuring Rep. Steve Scalise, the FBI on Wednesday released all its files on the matter requested by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Scalise, R-La., then the House majority whip, sustained severe injuries and underwent several surgeries in the early-morning attack in Alexandria, Va. After a lengthy recovery, he returned to Congress on Sept. 28 to a standing ovation. Other victims included Capitol Police Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey. The gunman was killed in the ensuing shootout.
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told The Daily Signal that the shootings were personal.
“The 2017 shooting at the Republicans’ congressional baseball practice was a jarring and very personal moment for all of us. House Intel Republicans have been requesting the complete FBI report on the shooting for years,” Crawford said in a statement to The Daily Signal.
“I appreciate [FBI Director Kash] Patel’s swift follow-through on his commitment—a welcome change from the FBI. Director Patel did in hours what previous FBI leadership couldn’t do in eight years. I am encouraged by this display of transparency, and I am hopeful the committee can count on all Intel leaders to provide us the information we need to conduct our oversight authority,” the Arkansas lawmaker said.
Patel announced the decision on Wednesday. Writing on X, the FBI chief called the move “one of our top priorities in delivering a new FBI era of transparency.” He said the documents had been sought by Capitol Hill officials since the attack on June 14, 2017.
Scalise, now the House majority leader, thanked Patel on X for releasing the documents and criticized the decision by previous FBI leadership to withhold the documents from Congress for so long.
The gunman was identified as 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, who had volunteered on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. On Facebook, Hodgkinson had featured a post that said, “[President Donald] Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” Hodgkinson was also a member of Facebook groups “Terminate the Republican Party” and “The Road To Hell Is Paved With Republicans.”
Sanders, I-Vt., condemned the attack on the Senate floor at the time.
“I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society, and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms,” the Vermont senator said.
Reflecting on the attack a year after it occurred, members of Congress vividly recalled the shooting for The Daily Signal.
“It’s just a sensation that you will never forget. And it was both eerily quiet and then, just wildly beyond my explanation, the loudness of those gunshots,” then-Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., explained.
According to then-Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, the attack served as a reminder of the impact of Congress on the culture.
“People respond to what they see on the news, and when they see members of Congress being divisive and going at each other, it just plays right out in our society, because Congress is a microcosm that is a reflection of our own society,” he told The Daily Signal.
Peter Parisi contributed to this report.
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