Fact Check: No, FBI Asst. Director Janeen DiGuiseppi Was Not Seated Behind Trump During Assassination Attempt

Claim:

FBI Assistant Director Janeen DiGuiseppi was the woman seen sitting behind former U.S. President Donald Trump during the presidential campaign rally where he was nearly assassinated in Butler, Pennsylvania,

Rating:

False ( About this rating? )

After former U.S. President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, a rumor spread online alleging that FBI Assistant Director Janeen DiGuiseppi sat behind him, fueling conspiracy theories that the the attempted assassination was an "inside job" by official law enforcement ( archived ):

The claim, which accumulated millions of views across platforms, also appeared several times on X , TikTok and Reddit . Some said DiGuiseppi was not only there, but had given the shooter "instructions," and others replied with outrage. "Inside job and they will never prove it wasn't. History repeats itself JFK pt. 2," one said. "The more info I get — the more I believe this was 100% a setup and allowed to happen," said another.

We contacted the press office of the FBI, which told us this claim was "categorically false."

The specific claim appeared in the larger context of an unfounded conspiracy theory that the attempted assassination was "state sponsored," led by Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden , Trump's opponent in the 2024 presidential election. This theory emerged in the days after the event as authorities struggled to identify the shooter's motive .

We have not been able to identify the woman at the rally, her name or her occupation. While both she and DiGuiseppi appeared to be around the same age and had long brown hair, the woman at the rally wore sunglasses and a baseball cap. The visible features of her face were not remotely similar enough to assert that she was DiGuiseppi.

Further, DiGuiseppi — who lived in many places due to her career at the FBI — never worked in Pennsylvania. She had no obvious reason for being at the rally personally or in an official capacity. In fact, the FBI was not involved in the organization of the rally, though they took charge of the investigation that followed the shooting.

DiGuiseppi was assistant director of the Insider Threat Office at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., named to the post in August 2023 by Director Christopher Wray. She was promoted after two years as the special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office in New York, the first woman to do so. She joined the federal agency in 1999.

Internet users spread this rumor online based on a faint resemblance between the two women, apparently seeking to bolster their groundless claim that the as-yet-unexplained attempted assassination was the result of a plot at the highest level of government. For all these reasons, we have given it a "False" rating.

Sources:

'Janeen DiGuiseppi Named Assistant Director of the FBI's Insider Threat Office'. FBI , 14 Aug. 2023, https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/janeen-diguiseppi-named-as-assistant-director-of-the-insider-threat-office. News, A. B. C. '"One Screen, Two Movies": Conflicting Conspiracy Theories Emerge from the Trump Rally Shooting'. ABC News , https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/screen-movies-conflicting-conspiracy-theories-emerge-trump-shooting-112054034. Accessed 19 July 2024. Rimmer, Jeremy Herb, John Miller, Evan Perez, Lauren Fox, Annie Grayer, Curt Devine, Alayna Treene, Morgan. '19 Lost Minutes: Law Enforcement Failed to Keep Sight of Trump Shooter, Whose Motive Is Still Unclear to Investigators | CNN Politics'. CNN , 18 July 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/thomas-matthew-crooks-trump-shooter/index.html. 'Update on the FBI Investigation of the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump'. FBI , 14 July 2024, https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/update-on-the-fbi-investigation-of-the-attempted-assassination-of-former-president-donald-trump.