Former Attorney General Barr ‘stunned’ by Justice Department decision to release letter from Trump’s would-be assassin

EXCLUSIVE – Former Attorney General William Barr says he is “stunned” that the Justice Department released a chilling letter written by a potential assassin Ryan Wesley Routh He described the decision on Monday as “premature” and that it served no purpose other than “to risk further violence.”

Routh is the suspect in the second foiled assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The Justice Department obtained the letter from a witness who said it arrived in a box that Routh delivered to them several months before the assassination attempt.

The box contained several handwritten letters and ammunition, among other things. In one of the letters, addressed to “Dear World,” he confessed to an assassination attempt on Trump. He also offered money to anyone who was willing to complete the murder.

“I was speechless that the Department of Justice this morning released the contents of the letter Ryan Routh left with an acquaintance before the attempted assassination of former President Trump,” Barr said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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“The letter calls on people to 'finish the job,' kill President Trump, attempts to incite people to do so using inflammatory language, and offers $150,000 to anyone who succeeds. There was no obvious justification for releasing this information at this time,” he continued.

Barr, who served under both the Trump and George HW Bush administrations, says that “the Justice Department had more than enough evidence to keep Routh in custody pending trial without making those details public.”

“Even if the Justice Department thought it was important to produce the letter to the court, it could have redacted inflammatory material or arranged for the letter to be produced under seal. It was premature to issue this letter in the middle of an election during which two attempts on President Trump's life were made,” Barr said.

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Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, stands in handcuffs after his arrest during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida, U.S., September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS)

“It served no purpose other than to risk inciting further violence,” he added.

The department's arrest log showed that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 14, a month before the Sept. 15 golf course incident. One of Routh's cell phones pinged cell towers near Trump's golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and at multiple times” between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15, according to the arrest log.

Investigators say they also found a book Routh wrote in 2023 titled “Ukraine's Unwinnable War: Democracy's Fatal Error, Neglect of the World and Global Citizens – Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, World War III, and the End of Humanity.”

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A courtroom sketch shows Ryan Routh appearing in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, September 23, 2024. (Lothar Speer)

The arrest report also provided a new detail about the witness who saw Routh flee the sniper's nest. The witness made eye contact with the suspect before Routh jumped into a Nissan Xterra and sped away. The witness is credited with photographing the vehicle and reporting it to law enforcement.

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The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Routh will likely face additional charges in the coming days, including aggravated assault for allegedly pointing a rifle at a Secret Service agent and threatening a former president, said prosecutor Dave Aronberg. previously told Fox News Digital.