PALM BEACH, Fla.—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sept. 17 signed an executive order to assign the case of the apparent second assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump to a statewide prosecutor under Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“The state of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious, straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” DeSantis said. “I’ve directed state agencies to move expeditiously and provide full transparency to the public.”
The state will be charging the suspect, Ryan Routh, with attempted murder, something that both DeSantis and Moody said could not be prosecuted at the federal level.
A statewide prosecutor is being brought in because Routh allegedly committed offenses in multiple counties and jurisdictions: Palm Beach, Martin, and possibly Broward counties. The name of that prosecutor has not been released.
“I think that we have jurisdiction under state law to pursue an investigation and prosecution under the most serious, readily provable offense, which would be attempted murder, which would carry a maximum sentence of life in prison,” the governor said on Sept. 17. ”[The] federal government does not have that jurisdiction.”
The state investigation will be led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Florida Highway Patrol in partnership with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
“Sometimes states have the ability and the jurisdiction to bring charges and go after maximum penalties that maybe the federal government does not, and that doesn’t mean it’s a turf war,” Moody said.
She added that it is “very common” for state investigators and prosecutors to work with federal agents on “dual tracks” with different charges.
DeSantis and Moody were joined by FDLE commissioner Mark Glass, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, and Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
Each speaker was united in their demand for transparency over the events that transpired over the previous weekend, and the need for answers.
“The people of Florida, the United States, have a right to be served by a government of candor, honesty, and action, and I’m confident that we will bring you and the people of Florida those answers, no matter the manner in which we uncover them,” Kerner said. “We will do everything that we can.”
DeSantis cited previous federal investigations into the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017 and the first assassination attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, two months ago and said the lack of answers erodes public confidence.
We’ve never gotten the “unvarnished truth,” he said.
Garland Promises to ‘Spare No Resources’
“The FBI is continuing to investigate the apparent assassination attempt of the former president that occurred on Sunday in Florida,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Sept. 17 after DeSantis’s press conference.“We are grateful that he is safe. The entire Justice Department, including in particular, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the National Security Division, are all coordinating closely with our local state law enforcement partners on the ground.
“We will all work together to tirelessly determine accountability in this matter. We will spare no resources in this investigation.”
However, DeSantis and Moody expressed concern about the federal government’s ability to investigate impartially while it is prosecuting Trump.
Moody said, “It is awkward, to say the least.”
“Don’t you want a clean slate?” DeSantis asked. “Don’t you want to have investigative agencies that are just going to pursue this without any other agenda creeping in, without there being any cause for concern about any impartiality?”
Neither DeSantis nor Moody went into specifics on how state agencies will interact with federal agents in this investigation.
Meanwhile, Bradshaw said that he met with the director of the Secret Service on Sept. 16 and expressed his commitment to provide all resources for whatever security level the federal agency declares.
Right now, he said, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is at the same security level as when he was the president.
“I can almost assure you that when he travels or if he goes to play golf again, things will probably change,” Bradshaw said.
