Legal analysts and ordinary citizens are questioning the FBI’s decision to release part of alleged would-be assassin Ryan Routh’s letter left behind before he tried to kill former President Donald Trump 15.
Even leftist CNN’s own legal analyst Elie Honig said releasing the letter, which contained a promise of a $150,000 bounty from Routh to whoever would kill Trump, could be a “call to arms” for unstable or deranged people.
Fifty-eight-year-old Ryan Routh was arrested after spending at least 12 hours hiding in a hedge row outside a golf course where President Trump was playing. A Secret Service agent spotted the muzzle of what turned out to be an AK-47 sticking through the fence, pointed at Trump. Agents fired shots at Roth and he got away, only to be arrested later in the day.
Routh’s social media posts, along with his appearance in a New York Times article, suggest he had extreme leftist positions, and he has donated frequently to the Democrat party. A judge has ordered him to be held in jail without bond.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released the letter on September 23. In it, Routh wrote that he suspected he would fail in his mission to kill Trump. Writing as if he had already carried out his plan and failed, Routh said “I tried my best” and that he gave it “all the gumption” he had. Writing to the reader, he said it is “up to you now to finish the job,” for which he would pay $150,000.
The source of the letter is unclear, but it was submitted to federal officials by an unknown person. This person said they had received the letter months ago. It is also not clear why this person waited until after the assassination attempt to alert authorities.
CNN’s Honig is a former U.S. attorney. During his recent appearance, he said he agreed with the assessment offered by Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general. The letter runs the risk of “inciting further violence,” Honig said.
By releasing the letter with the bounty offer, Honig argued, federal officials have dangled bait in front of anyone who might be mentally unstable.
At the time of this report, Ryan Routh’s son, Oran Routh, was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
