FTA:

In his brief remarks introducing the former president at a Georgia State University arena, Vance told the crowd: "They couldn't beat him politically, so they tried to bankrupt him. They failed at that, so they tried to impeach him. They failed at that, so they tried to put him in prison." Then, gesturing emphatically, Vance declared: "They even tried to kill him."

After three weeks of intensive FBI investigation, no evidence has emerged supporting that claim. The motive of the deceased 20-year-old gunman, who was registered as a Republican voter but appears not to have been driven by partisanship or political ideology, remains unknown.

As I've reported in the weeks since the horrific shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, top Trump allies repeatedly have promoted unfounded conspiracy theories and blamed Trump's political opponents without evidence. Multiple threat assessment and law enforcement leaders have told me that this rhetoric is fueling already heightened concerns about political violence heading into the November election. Those concerns, they said, stem foremost from domestic far-right extremist groups and Trump's MAGA movement.