Former President Donald Trump is unambiguously casting doubt on the federal government’s ability to investigate an attempt on his life this month.
And he trusts one man above all others to get the truth.
Claiming the “Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July,” Trump says he trusts state officials to handle the probe.
“If the DOJ and FBI cannot do their job honestly and without bias, and hold the aspiring assassin responsible to the full extent of the Law, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead on the investigation and prosecution,” Trump said in a prepared statement.
“Florida charges would be much more serious than the ones the FBI has announced. The TRUTH would be followed, wherever it leads. OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT AND DISCREDITED, especially as it pertains to the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. LET FLORIDA HANDLE THE CASE!”
Would-be assassin Ryan Routh faces two counts: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He could get 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if convicted of these charges, which fall short of what DeSantis wants for a “violation of state law, not federal law.”
“The federal government does not have jurisdiction to bring an attempted murder charge,” DeSantis said. “They don’t have jurisdiction over a case that’s not a federal official, the apparent winner of a Presidential Election or the formally declared President-elect. So right then and there we have the ability to pursue potentially life in prison under state law.”
DeSantis, a frequent critic of the Joe Biden administration, professes surprise that the feds want to maintain control over the probe. He said last week that state “investigators were rebuffed just going to the fence line outside of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.”
“And so I think they’ve taken the position, you know, they don’t want the state of Florida to be involved in this,” he added.
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