DeSantis Questions Propriety of Federal Agencies Probing Assassination Attempt on Trump While Prosecuting Him
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell /
Having the same federal agencies prosecuting former President Donald Trump investigating Sunday’s assassination attempt on him “may not be the best thing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Monday press conference.
Trump is being prosecuted in federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, a little more than an hour northwest of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where the second assassination attempt occurred on Sunday.
In July, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. Smith subsequently secured a superseding indictment against the 45th president on four felony charges in his Washington, D.C., election interference case.
“I look at the federal government, with all due respect to them, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that jurisdiction are now going to be investigating this,” DeSantis said of the Sunday incident on Monday morning in Orlando, Florida. “I just think that that may not be the best thing for this country. Nevertheless, they have their prerogative. But we have our prerogative. So, we’ll be making an announcement further along those lines in the ensuing days.”
The Florida Republican announced a state-level investigation shortly after the assassination attempt Sunday.
“We do believe there were multiple violations of state law,” DeSantis said. “We also believe that there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way that is credible.”
Trump was golfing in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the Secret Service spotted a gun sticking through a fence along the perimeter of the golf course and scared off the gunman.
“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach, Florida, and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the FBI said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
The New York Post, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, said the alleged gunman is Ryan Wesley Routh, who was taken into custody.
“Routh, who has a lengthy criminal record from North Carolina, frequently posted about politics and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019. He also bashed Trump in an April 22 post on X, in which he declared, ‘DEMOCRACY is on the ballot, and we cannot lose,’” the Post reported.
Katrina Trinko contributed to this report.