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Under Kash Patel Leadership FBI Finally Releases Docs on 2017 Shooting

Jacob Adams on 'FBI Finally Releases Long-Sought Documents About Congressional Baseball Game Shootings' by Sander's vol James Hodgkinson.

L. A. "Tony" Kovach's profile picture
L. A. "Tony" Kovach, Neighbor
Base image credit on left to X. Text and collage credits are to this writer for MHProNews and this Patch.
Base image credit on left to X. Text and collage credits are to this writer for MHProNews and this Patch.

Jacob Adams is the author of the article in Part I from the Daily Signal provided to this writer for MHProNews as the latest installment in this "Reality Check" series for this Patch. While numbers in left-leaning media and institutions have beat the drums over "J6" as if it were the only troubling or tragic event of the century, cases like the one that follows is a reminder that there is arguably far more violence from individuals aligned with the political left than there are from those on the political right. More on that plus other topics in Part II.

Part I

News

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FBI Finally Releases Long-Sought Documents About 2017 Congressional Baseball Game Shootings

Jacob Adams | March 27, 2025

Find out what's happening in Lakelandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

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, Virginia. 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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Part II - Additional Information plus Other Topics

1) The rhetoric from certain (not all) leaders on the Democratic left or influential backers of their policies has often been aggressive or even violent. Notice, for example, this from performer known as Madonna. It took places several months before James Hodgkinson, who volunteered for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (VT-self-declared Democratic Socialist) 2016 Democratic presidential campaign.

Both the above and below have videos associated with them.

Notice that this too occured days before Hodgkinson's attack on Republicans at baseball practice.

But there wasn't just threats or suggestions of violence. There was actual violence in the nation's capital and beyond. There is video with the item below.

From 2017 to March 2025 there have been a steady suggestion or even calls for violence against candidate or President Trump as well as times when such calls for violence included calls for violence against his supporters and political allies.

Is it any wonder that there have been multiple assignation attempts against President Trump when such suggestions are periodic fare for those who follow left-leaning sources? This was less than a year ago.

https://www.manufacturedhomeli...

But an even closer look at violence linked to the left may be brewing from the probes of Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna that will include the mysterious death of leftist Jeffrey Epstein in jail or assassinations like President John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr.

https://patch.com/florida/lake...

When violence in the past decade, or acts of violence that included bombings, riots, vandalism, and murders dating back to the 1960s are considered, it becomes clearer that this may be sad, troubling, and obviously illegal and morally wrong. So, this isn't new on the left. Yes, there are some on the right who have been violent. But if the big picture is considered, there is an argument to be made that there is far more violence from the left than there ever has been from those on the right.

This next X-post is from 2023. There have been dozens of more attacks on Catholic Churches and pro-life centers that are often Christian affiliated since then.

This X-post has video associated with it of Senator Mazie Hirono (HI-D) making a "call to arms" against pro-lifer Americans.

With this backdrop, is it any surprise that the Biden-Harris years were marked with millions of people flooding into the U.S. without proper vetting? Or that apparently untold thousands of those had criminal records from their home countries? Or that crime was rising as a result?

This history of leftist violence is obviously not new. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the terrorist wing of the Democratic party for decades. See what Professor Carol Swain had to say about that troubling history.

Writing as a political independent, it is not that Republicans are some perfect political party. But sadly, the Democratic Party has all too often included violence and illegal behaviors and tactics that have made life in America harder for millions among the working class, middle class, or retirees.

Ideally, in my view, the U.S. could benefit from a party that is explicitly for constitutional and Judeo-Christian beliefs. I said as much back in the early 1990s and have from time to time since. But until we have such a party, independents who believe in the rule of law have mainly "MAGA" and "America First" Republicans to look to for support for the kind of laws that make for a more peaceful society.

There are reasons why public polling puts Democrats at or near all time lows and why President Trump and Republicans are at or near all time survey highs. There are reasons why even left-leaning CNN finds that people believe that things are moving in a better direction since Trump took office.

More recently is this from "CNN polling guru Harry Enten."

Those who think that Democrats are 'finished' are likely mistaken. But there are good reasons why there has been a steady stream of Americans moving to the more traditional, more law and order, or more conservative minded Republicans than the more leftist Democrats.

Special Congressional elections are coming in Florida and beyond. Democratic backers are pouring millions of dollars into these races, routinely far outpacing Republican fund raising.

With FBI Director Kash Patel's release of these documents, this is an apparent example of promises made, promises kept. Is there more needed? Of course. But such steps are positive and useful.

The 2026 midterms will be here all too quickly. It pays to stay engaged and properly informed.

Reality is important. The truth matters. Properly informed and committed believers have been ahead of the understanding game. Check out other installments in this "Reality Check" series for this Patch. Thank you for checking in.

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L. A. “Tony” Kovach is a publisher who has earned multiple awards in history. He and his family live in a manufactured home on private property in Winter Haven, FL. He is the co-founder of Manufactured Home Living News.com (MHLivingNews.com) and Manufactured Home Pro News.com (MHProNews.com), trade publications serving segments of the manufactured home industry. Having worked in several segments of the manufactured home industry for over 3 decades, Kovach is a widely acknowledged and often praised expert on manufactured housing. ###

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