President Donald Trump said he wants the Secret Service to provide him with information about the two attempts on his life last year, including details about both suspects—Ryan Routh and Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The president alleged that information related to the attempts was withheld by the administration of his predecessor President Joe Biden.
“No more holding back because of Biden. ... I’m entitled to know. And they held it back long enough,” Trump told the newspaper. “No excuses.”
Routh, 58, was arrested after allegedly lying in wait for the president as he played golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15.
Prosecutors said Routh had methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks. According to allegations in the criminal complaint, a Secret Service agent saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line on the golf course and fired his service weapon in the direction of the rifle. After that, a witness saw a man later identified as Routh fleeing the area.
Prosecutors said Routh left behind a note that expressed a desire to assassinate Trump over what he said was the president’s move to pull the United States out of its deal with Iran on nuclear weapons. Routh also had frequently posted on social media about his support of Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia, saying he was trying to recruit people to fight in the Eastern European country.
Routh, a Hawaii resident, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Crooks, 20, was the alleged would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Officials say the Secret Service sniper team shot and killed him soon after he opened fire from a nearby rooftop while Trump was speaking at a political rally. One of Crooks’s bullets sliced through the top of Trump’s right ear, while a man attending the rally was killed, and two others were injured. Investigators found two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the suspect’s car.
Authorities have released few details about Crooks to the public, and Crooks’s family has not released a statement since the assassination attempt. No motive for the shooting has been publicly established.
Last year, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), now Trump’s national security adviser, questioned details about the Butler assassination attempt and expressed doubt that Crooks had acted alone.
“How did he conduct those searches and not get popped? I still have a lot of questions.”
The Butler shooting led to the Secret Service confirming failings leading up to the shooting. Days after the incident, the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned after a lengthy question-and-answer session in the House of Representatives.
