Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally assigned the case involving the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump to the Office of Statewide Prosecutor under the supervision of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, emphasizing that it is within the state’s jurisdiction to pursue an attempted murder charge.
DeSantis said the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, who was arrested by Martin County officers after fleeing the scene on Sunday, is believed to have committed state law violations “across multiple judicial circuits in the state: Palm Beach Judicial Circuit, the Judicial Circuit including Martin County, as well as perhaps the Judicial Circuit represented by Broward County.”
“Also, the state of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious, straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” DeSantis said during the press conference, adding that he has directed state agencies to “move expeditiously and provide full transparency to the public.”
DeSantis said he does not believe it is in the best interest of the state of Florida or the nation as a whole to have the same federal agencies “that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law.”
“In addition to holding the suspect accountable, the public deserves to know the truth about how this assassination came to be, and I have directed all state agencies to work expeditiously to be able to uncover the truth,” he continued before Attorney General Ashley Moody took the stage.
She said the American people are hungry for true leadership, stressing that the people “need to know we’re on this” case.
“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. Somebody asked me about that before,” Moody clarified, explaining that it is “very common for state investigators, state prosecutors to work with our federal prosecutors and federal agents on dual tracks with different purposes.”
She said:
And we may have different charges here, and that’s why, with Governor DeSantis’s leadership, I am proud that Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol will be looking into and investigating what happened when something went terribly wrong, when someone was allowed to remain on the periphery of a golf course in a tree line for 12 hours and get within 500 feet of the President of the United States.
She called for both trust and transparency in this case. And Florida, she vowed, will step up and deliver.
Like DeSantis, Moody also noted that it is “awkward” to have the same agencies seeking to prosecute the former president investigating these cases.
“It is awkward to say the least to have a prosecutorial agency and an investigatory agency that is bringing charges and seeking to put the victim away for life being the same agency and prosecutors that are going after the would-be assassin,” she said, adding that Florida officials are “happy to make sure that the American people and Floridians feel confident that we’re protecting one of our own, that we’re investigating this to leave no stone unturned, and that is to protect the life of the once and potentially future President of the United States, Donald Trump.”
DeSantis took a series of questions at the end of the press conference and emphasized that the Sunshine State has a “strong interest in the state of Florida of bringing this suspect to justice to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The state of Florida has the appropriate jurisdiction to be able to do that, to be able to bring appropriate charges that will lead to appropriate punishment,” he said, adding, “Clearly, if an FBI has admitted that this was an attempted assassination, you have that jurisdictional hook at the state level for by far the most serious offense.”
“I think this is an offense that should merit life in prison,” the governor said, warning that if they lower the threshold of punishment, someone else could attempt to do it.
“I think it’s really important for the people of Florida, but also for our country, that we pursue the most serious charges that are on the books to hold this guy accountable. And to say you’re going to do a couple gun charges — that is not going to be sufficient to do it,” he stated. “So they clearly have jurisdiction in the statewide prosecutor.”
WATCH the entire press conference below: