FBI director declines House committee request to testify about Trump shooting

FBI Director Christopher Wray declined the House Homeland Security Committee's request to testify next week on Capitol Hill about the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump , a committee aide has confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

The refusal puts lawmakers and government officials further at odds following the shooting at Saturday's Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers have pushed federal authorities in the Biden administration for answers about how the shooter was able to get so close to Trump and how the situation unfolded in general.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment about whether the agency would approve a different official on the same date or whether Wray would appear at a different date and time.

Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) had asked that Wray, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas each appear for testimony next week.

“The American people want answers on what happened Saturday in Pennsylvania,” Green said in a statement Tuesday. "Secretary Mayorkas and Director Cheatle are responsible for the department and the agency charged with securing our homeland and protecting our nation’s chief executives and candidates, while Director Wray leads the agency with the vital responsibility of investigating this attempted assassination."

The committee aide said the panel has not received responses from the Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security on whether they will allow Cheatle or Mayorkas to appear.

The committee has not specified how it will respond to Wray's refusal to testify.

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The House Homeland Security Committee investigation is one of a handful that Senate and House committees have launched, as well as one by the DHS Office of Inspector General.

Trump was injured in the shooting Saturday, while one rallygoer, Corey Comperatore, was killed after being struck by a bullet. Two other attendees were also wounded.