How is it possible that the FBI reached the conclusion back in 2017 that the Alexandria baseball practice shooting by James Hodkinson was just an attempt at "suicide by cop" and not motivated by politics. 

Today, GOP members of the House Intel Committee released a new report based on its own review of the entire FBI file. The report it released today directly accusing the FBI of manipulating the investigation to avoid reaching a proper conclusion. First, here's the FBI's history on the matter:

...after reviewing the case file, the Committee could not be more disappointed by the FBI’s incomplete investigation and substandard analysis in 2017.  On a matter of significant interest to Congressional Members and staff and the American people, the FBI investigation failed even to conduct substantive interviews of all the shooting victims and other eyewitnesses.

Instead, just seven days into its investigation, the FBI issued a press release titled, “Law Enforcement Shares Findings of the Investigation into the June 14 Alexandria, Virginia Shooting,” arriving at a conclusion there was “no nexus to terrorism” by utilizing false statements and manipulation of known facts.

Shortly thereafter, an FBI Executive Intelligence Briefing doubled down on this hasty determination, claiming James Thomas “Tom” Hodgkinson’s “motive to shoot and kill individuals at the congressional baseball practice most aligns with an act of ‘suicide by cop.’”

The FBI then spent the next four years privately guarding the basis for its determinations by impeding Congressional oversight.  It was not until the FBI was investigating January 6 protesters and the application of Congressional pressure that the FBI changed course with the following statement to the House Appropriations Committee in 2021:

“The shooter was motivated by a desire to commit an attack on Members of Congress…This conduct is something that we would today characterize as a domestic terrorism event.”

As for the initial claim that "suicide by cop" was Hodgkinson's goal, the report dismisses that.

To commit suicide by cop, the perpetrator needs to demonstrate hostile intent in the presence of police.  In this case, there were no observable police officers present. Hodgkinson began shooting at his targets on the baseball field at 7:09am. Dressed in plain clothes, Capitol Police officers engaged Hodgkinson soon thereafter, but the uniformed officers of the Alexandria Police Department did not arrive at the scene until 7:12am. Since there were no uniformed police officers present at the time of the attack and Hodgkinson had no reason to believe there were police present, the suicide by cop determination does not make sense.

In addition, Hodgkinson took several actions that may indicate he hoped to survive the firefight. Eyewitness accounts obtained by the press state that Hodgkinson concealed himself behind a storage building while he was firing at the baseball field. Also, the night before the shooting, Hodgkinson searched Google for directions from his current location in Alexandria, Virginia to his home in Belleville, Illinois. That same night, Hodgkinson texted his wife that he was returning home.

Even if the shooter didn't really believe he would make it home, that doesn't rule out terrorism as a motive. The 9/11 attackers were both terrorists and suicidal. Here's what the report says about Hodgkinson's actual motive.

This Committee report demonstrates (in the “Other Evidence of Domestic Terrorism” section below) that FBI’s case file includes fact after fact indicating Hodgkinson was carrying out a plan to impact government policy or the political system by targeting Republicans. That was Hodgkinson’s motive, not simply to die by a cop’s bullet. After all, chronologically, Hodgkinson was upset with President Trump’s election, took a concealed carry firearms class, told friends and family they may not see him again, left his wife in Illinois, drove with his firearms to Washington, D.C. “to protest,” cased the Eugene Simpsons Park baseball field for two months, and then confirmed the presence of Republican congressmen before using his firearms to shoot more than 70 rounds at Republican congressmen and staff.

In order to shoehorn those facts into the false conclusion of "suicide by cop" the FBI left out some significant information when speaking to the public. In particular, the fact that Hodgkinson was carrying a hit list when he died.

The FBI stated that “items found on Hodgkinson included a piece of paper that contained the names of six Members of Congress.  No context was included…” As shown below, the list contained more than names. It also included a physical description, which was important context. In addition, the handwritten note included the names of two Republican Congressional baseball teammates, Representatives Jeff Duncan and Mo Brooks, who were both present at the baseball practice that morning.

The FBI discounted that as evidence of motive and instead went all in on the conclusion of Hodgkinson's brother.

“Hodgkinson’s brother believed Hodgkinson chose to commit ‘suicide by cop’…” First, this is not a “communication.” There was nothing in the brother’s statement that indicated Hodgkinson had any discussion with his brother regarding suicidal intent. Second, Hodgkinson’s brother based this opinion on Hodgkinson’s poor marksmanship during the attack, specifically that Hodgkinson took dozens of shots and failed to fatally wound anyone. His brother’s opinion carries no more weight than anyone else’s opinion. The Committee notes that the brother’s statement is the only evidence within the case file suggesting the possibility of suicide by cop, and expresses grave concern if this was the impetus to the FBI’s conclusion.

Finally, the FBI also ignored that there were other handwritten notes found in Hodgkinson's van which seem to indicate a political motive. The actual notes are included in an appendix.  This one seems like it was intended an explanation of his actions. His writing is a mess and there are a couple lines that were inserted out of order after the fact. I've tried to reassemble it but check the link if you want to see the original on page 18 of the report:

Bob saw what the political parties had morphed into. He didn't like what he saw and had to do something about it. He was 66 years old now and had enjoyed a fairly good life. He wanted to make his mark in life while he still could and by this he wanted to Better Mankind. He was slowing down due to his age and the fact that he has diabetes. He's also 20 pounds overweight but who's counting. He wanted to correct the wrongs that had occurred when Congress passed Citizens United which let the Rich put unlimited amounts of money into the Election Process. The Rich had taken over the Republican Party.

I don't know if Hodgkinson was called "Bob" or if he had diabetes, but he was 66 years old at the time of the attack. Some of his writings appear to be bad attempts at poetry or song lyrics.

“They’re truly un-American
 Against the poor and middle class
As long as the rich get richer
They have done they’re task.
These are the elected congressmen of the republican party
We should treat them w/ the despicable hatred
That they stir in us
For this Great Country Will Never be good again
Till they are all out of office” 

A few more of his thoughts:

• “A man realizes the political scene has changed drastically over the last 35 years and wants to show the people how to win back the power of the people”
• "I was getting older and wanted to make a statement in my life before the end.” 
• “How the Republican party has duped the under educated, the religious fanatics, the backwoods, the racists, and the gungho war mongers in to following them.” 
• “Must have a hero Fighting the big corp and billionaires Must take action to teach and convince Show how media are all part of the 1%.”

It's a mish-mash of Bernie Bro and Occupy slogans, but the repeated references to doing "something about it" and wanting to "make his mark" and "make a statement" to "Better Mankind" while he still could is pretty obviously about the attack. 

It's difficult to understand how the FBI could have missed it. The fact that they sat on these other writings that were found in Hodkinson's van, does seem to indicate they were seeking to cover up the real motive. 

The minority staff (Committee Democrats) agree the initial conclusion was wrong.

HPSCI Minority concurs with the finding of the Majority’s report that the 2017 Congressional baseball practice shooting was a domestic terror attack motivated at least in part by political animus. The Minority also agrees that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was too slow to publicly make that determination. 

But they take issue with the claim this failure was the result of politics.

...the report identifies no evidence that political considerations played a role in the delayed determination to classify the attack as domestic terrorism. Indeed, the decision to publicly attribute the attack to domestic terrorism was taken only after the change of administration in 2021.

What else could explain the FBI's decision to ignore all the evidence that James Hodgkinson was a left-wing extremist looking to "make his mark"? To put it another way, if leaving out the evidence found in his writings wasn't motivated by politics, what did motivate it? The minority staff doesn't offer any suggestions on that point, just a knee-jerk defense of the FBI's shoddy investigation.