WASHINGTON — Thomas Crooks, the would-be assassin who opened fire on Donald Trump, went to considerable lengths to hide his online activity, including using a false name for some purchases, according to federal records obtained by The Post.
Two days after the July 2024 campaign rally shooting, Crooks’ father, Matthew, told FBI investigators that his 20-year-old son frequently ordered items from Amazon and other websites under the name “Bob Dole.” The packages were delivered to the family home.
Among the deliveries were parts, tools and other equipment intended to expand the capabilities of the rifle Crooks used. His father had handed him that same firearm on the morning of the rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in Pennsylvania.
The reason Crooks selected the name of Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, remains unknown. His parents have said their son did not appear to have strong or clearly defined political views.
Matthew Crooks said his son began using the alias after the elder Crooks’ bank account was hacked. Thomas later advised his father to use a virtual private network and a privacy-focused browser while online.
According to his father, Thomas cited CyberGhost VPN and Brave browser as services he believed were less vulnerable to hackers and “less likely to be compromised by outside actors.”
Thomas apparently believed that using an alias to buy products would prevent hackers from identifying him. His father pointed out that online purchases made under a pseudonym would still be charged to an account connected to the buyer’s real identity.
Despite that explanation, Thomas continued using different names for online orders in an apparent effort to protect his accounts and limit his digital exposure.
The FBI records were secured by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, as part of his investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump at the Butler rally.
FBI officials disclosed last year that Crooks had operated at least 35 digital accounts. Investigators said they were able to access all of them, including multiple email accounts based in Germany and Belgium.
FBI Director Kash Patel and other officials have nonetheless determined that the shooting had no apparent connection to a foreign government or overseas network.
The use of a politically recognizable alias also appears to have been unusual for Crooks. Earlier reports identified his account on a fan-art website by the username “epicmicrowave.”
Although his father described him as lacking an obvious political allegiance, an unidentified ATF interview subject offered a somewhat different picture. The source characterized Crooks as a “big history buff” who was “interested in politics” and frequently discussed “Trump and Biden” around the time Trump was first elected.
The newly released records provide additional details about the otherwise private gunman who targeted Trump, but they leave key questions unresolved as Patel prepares to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
