Bill Barr blasts DOJ for releasing letter of alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh
Former US Attorney General William Barr panned the Justice Department he once ran for publicly disclosing a chilling letter from the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump earlier this month.In a court filing Monday, prosecutors released the disturbing note they claim was authored by suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, as proof of his intention to kill the 45th president.“I was dumbfounded that the DOJ made public this morning the contents of the letter that, Ryan Routh, left with an acquaintance prior to the attempted assassination of former President Trump,” Barr told Fox News.Prosecutors claimed to have acquired that note — addressed “To the World” — from an unnamed source who found it in a box they said was delivered to them by Routh prior to the shooting last week.
Routh had further offered a bounty of “$150,000 to whomever can complete the job.”“The letter calls on people to ‘finish the job’ of killing President Trump, attempts to rouse people in incendiary terms to do so, and offers $150,000 to anyone who succeeds.There was no apparent justification for releasing this information at this stage,” Barr went on. Some critics have noted how authorities had declined to release the Nashville shooter’s lengthy manifesto carried out by a suspect who allegedly identified as a transgender man that shot up Covenant School last year and killed six people, including three children.
Law enforcement officials have previously indicated that evidence suggests Routh didn’t actually fire off shots during the security scare at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach on Sept.15.
Prosecutors have opted to charge him with possession of a firearm despite being a convicted felon and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.Authorities had discovered a loaded SKS rifle with a scope in the sniper’s nest, along with two backpacks hanging on the fence and a GoPro camera as his apparent sniper’s nest no...