Florida to prosecute Ryan Routh over Trump golf incident: NPR

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida is currently conducting its own investigation into the man arrested in an alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis believes the state's case should take precedence over the federal charges.

Ryan Routh is being held on two weapons charges while federal prosecutors prepare a broader indictment. But at a news conference in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, DeSantis questioned whether the U.S. Justice Department, which is prosecuting Trump for election interference and misusing classified documents, can handle Routh's proceedings fairly and transparently.

“In my opinion,” DeSantis said, “it is not in the best interest of our state or our nation for the same federal agencies that seek to prosecute Donald Trump to be leading this investigation, particularly when the most serious offense is a violation of state law but not federal law.”

DeSantis says Routh could be charged under state law with attempted murder, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. There is no comparable federal law for attempted murder.

The two charges against Routh are illegal possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Federal prosecutors are expected to file charges later this month.

Law enforcement officials on Tuesday continued to investigate the area where the Secret Service discovered a suspected assassin of former President Donald Trump on Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein says more charges are likely to be filed. In addition to gun offenses, it is a federal crime to threaten a president, vice president, former president or presidential candidate. That crime carries a maximum sentence of five years, but would likely be one of several charges that, if convicted, could add up to a lengthy prison sentence.

The Justice Department's special counsel, Jack Smith, is currently pursuing the two criminal cases against Trump. “There are a lot of people who have big problems with these two cases,” says DeSantis. “They have deeply divided the country.”

Weinstein says DeSantis's request that Florida take the lead in prosecuting Routh is unusual and unlikely to be implemented. “Federal prosecutors are vetting all witnesses,” he says. “Routh will not be taken into federal custody until the federal case is concluded.”

But DeSantis' actions add a political component to the investigation into the alleged assassination of Routh that is consistent with the messages coming from the Trump campaign team.

Trump has made the various criminal and other charges against him a central part of his 2024 message. He denounces a “weaponized” Justice Department, attacks the judges, prosecutors and witnesses in the cases and tells his supporters that if it happens to him, it can happen to them. That message has been echoed by other leading Republicans in the party, and the Republican-led House of Representatives has created a panel to investigate “weaponization of the federal government.”