DOJ Blocks FL Probe Of 2nd Assassination Attempt On Trump: Lawsuit

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Florida is suing the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming the federal agency is trying to block the state's probe into a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The 18-page lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida's Fort Pierce Division. Patch has obtained a copy of the lawsuit.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is the listed defendant in the lawsuit.

Ryan Wesley Routh is the 58-year-old Hawaiian man accused of being armed with an AK-style rifle and hiding out in a tree line at Trump's International Golf Club more than a month ago in West Palm Beach. Authorities have accused Routh of sticking the rifle out of the tree line as Trump was playing a round of golf.

Trump was not injured in the Sept. 15 incident. Routh is facing federal gun charges in the case, according to past charging documents.

"By the time the Secret Service found the shooter, he had 'ma[de] it within several hundred yards' of President Trump," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's lawsuit claimed.

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Moody's office on Thursday alleged the DOJ "began demanding that Florida suspend its investigation" into the assassination try days after state officials announced its independent state probe.

“The State of Florida has been clear that a dual-track investigation would be in the best interest of all parties involved," Moody said in a news release. "It is not lost on us that the American people have concerns about federal agencies exclusively handling this matter while simultaneously investigating and attempting to prosecute President Trump. Given that the Department of Justice is preventing our independent investigation from proceeding, we filed suit to ensure that Florida can take appropriate action to enforce its laws.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Sept. 17, ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol to unite with other agencies of varying levels to conduct a thorough investigation into the attempted assassination.

In the same executive order, he directed the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution to partner with law enforcement "to ensure that charges are brought for all violations of state law and to ensure public transparency in the investigatory process."

The state maintains the DOJ is hindering it from interviewing witnesses and conducting its probe while additionally indicating the state may solely cooperate with the DOJ's investigation.

This would violate the 10th Amendment, according to the lawsuit. This amendment speaks of the rights reserved to the states and the people.

Moody's office asserted the DOJ started obstructing its efforts when FDLE ages requested access to "the crime scene and evidence during a call with FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri."

It was during this call that a federal statute was called into question, provoking Moody to send a letter to U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In the lawsuit, state officials said Routh had not yet been charged with attempted assassination under 18 U.S.C. statute 351.

"Section 351(f) purports to temporarily 'suspend the exercise of jurisdiction by a State or local authority' where the federal government asserts 'investigative or prosecutive jurisdiction' over violations of § 351, which would include the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate," the lawsuit stated.

Moody's office said about a week after her letter was sent to federal officials, an indictment charging Routh on suspicion of attempted assassination charge of a major presidential candidate was filed.

Florida officials have been asked not to "take any actions to investigate violations of state law until the federal investigation is concluded," Moody's office said.

The DOJ declined to comment but sent Patch the DOJ's response to Moody's letter. It reads in part:

"Since receipt of your letter, a federal grand jury returned an indictment on September 24, 2024, charging Ryan Wesley Routh with attempting to kill former President Trump in violation of 18 USC 351(c), which subjects Mr. Routh to a potential penalty of life in prison. The same indictment charged Mr. Routh with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer (a Secret Service agent), being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and unlawful possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, all of which potentially carry additional terms of incarceration. Those federal charges are supported by significant evidence developed through the FBI investigation, a portion of which was described in a
court filing on September 23, 2024, in support of the government’s successful motion to detain Mr. Routh pending trial.

"... The federal indictment returned last week – which post-dates your letter – resolves any potential uncertainty about whether 18 USC 351(f) applies here and by any standard represents an assertion of that provision. While as you note, in enacting 18 USC 351(f), Congress plainly envisioned federal investigative and prosecutive primacy in the first instance for attempted assassinations such as occurred here, the same provision does not preclude state prosecutions permissibly following the conclusion of the federal prosecution—and in no way prevents the sharing of federal evidence with state authorities after the federal matter has ended."