Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has assigned state Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
In making the announcement September 17, DeSantis said he doesn’t trust federal law enforcement to be able to conduct a fair investigation into the September 15 incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
DeSantis also questioned the impartiality of the federal government.
Former President Donald Trump
| Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
“In my judgment, it is not in the best interest of our state or of our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, not federal law,” DeSantis said Tuesday during a news conference in West Palm Beach.
DeSantis also admitted he has “a lot of concern about” how the federal government is handling the case alleging Trump improperly handled classified documents at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
The Trump document case is being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The Routh case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and led by Markenzy Lapointe.
The governor said the state Office of Statewide Prosecution, which is under Moody’s watch, could have a stronger case against suspect Ryan Wesley Routh than the federal government could.
“We have a very strong interest in holding this suspect accountable,” DeSantis said. “I think this is an offense that should merit life in prison, and if we are not going to go to the fullest extent of the law, you are lowering the threshold into what someone in the future may try to do something like this. …
“It is better for the public and it is better for justice (if Florida leads the Routh case).”
So far, Routh has been charged with two felonies. Officials say more charges are likely.
DeSantis said he would like to see Routh charged with attempted murder because it carries a maximum sentence of life with a conviction.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Moody said she and her office are ready to work the case and provide “trust and transparency” to the issue, saying she wants to ensure people feel “confident that we are protecting one of our own.”
“It is very awkward to say the least, to have a prosecutorial agency and an investigatory agency that I bring charges and is seeking to put the victim away from life, being the same agency and prosecutors that are going after the would-be assassin,” Moody said at the press conference. “It is very common for state investigators, state prosecutors to work with our federal prosecutors and federal agents on dual tracks with different purposes.
“And we might have different charges here.”
Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two federal firearms offenses that include sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Neither charge is directly related to the attempted assassination. Federal authorities say they spotted Routh at the golf club in a bush and aiming a semi-automatic rifle toward Trump. But no shots were taken.
The first charge – felony possession of a firearm – carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. The second – possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number – is punishable by up to five years. Both charges carry a maximum three-year period of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.