How do we still know so little about Thomas Crooks

One of the highest honors of my professional life was serving as director of communications for the late Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.). Because of his poor childhood; his heroic actions in World War II; the three years he spent in a hospital fighting to survive his almost mortal wounds; and the innate goodness within him, I truly don’t know a human being who cared more for the suffering and disenfranchised of our nation, or who shed more real tears for them.

As the driving force behind Washington, D.C.’s World War Two Memorial, Dole not only morphed into “America’s veteran” but he also served as a political template for how to work across the aisle to get things done for the American people — most especially, its disabled citizens .

All of those positives and warm memories came flooding back into my mind after reading, of all things, news that the attempted Trump assassin, Thomas Crooks, used “Bob Dole” as an alias when ordering “suspicious packages.” Suddenly, Bob Dole’s name may be forever linked to a very troubled young man who killed one innocent bystander and wounded two others while attempting to assassinate Trump .

I first became a fan of Trump while working in the Reagan White House and after reading his bestselling book “The Art of the Deal.” I honestly believed it to be one of the best “real world” business books ever written.

Flash ahead to three days before the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. Then a former president, Trump had been kind enough to invite me to his golf course in Jupiter, Fla., for a private breakfast and to hit the links. We spoke about golf, business and politics.

What most stuck with me about that very special moment was how incredibly kind and genuine Trump was to everyone at his country club. Not only did he know each staff member by name, he also knew the names of their children. He joked with them, laughed with them, and bonded with them. It showed a real side of him that the American people rarely get to see because of a highly adversarial mainstream media.

Like him or not, agree with him or not, this is a president who has been mercilessly attacked by journalists who have dubbed themselves part of what they call “the resistance.” He had the deep state of two previous administrations marshalled against him, and lawfare was used in an attempt to destroy his candidacy, imprison him or both. Far-left activist judges are still seeking to unwind or delay his policies and, in many cases, upend the will of the American people.

After engaging in one more conversation with Trump that day in 2024, I walked past his Secret Service detail and said, “Thank you for service and please protect him.” I felt the need to say that because I knew in three days’ time, the president would be attending yet another outdoor campaign rally, in Butler, Pa. Precisely because of the ever-escalating hateful rhetoric of the far left, I did fear it could trigger an already damaged mind.

Was that the case with Thomas Crooks? That is but one of an endless series of unanswered questions regarding that fateful day.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.