Former United States Attorney General Bill Barr released a scathing statement on the Department of Justice's (DOJ) decision to release a letter from the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump last Sunday.
Trump survived a second assassination attempt after a 58-year-old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh hid for 12 hours with a rifle near the former president’s West Palm Beach, Florida golf course. Routh later pointed the weapon at Trump through a fence as the former president played a round of golf seemingly with the intent to harm Trump, though was apprehended by Secret Service.
On Monday, federal prosecutors released a letter that appeared to detail plans to assassinate Trump. The letter was allegedly delivered to a witness' residence by Routh several months prior to the Sunday assassination attempt in a box which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, various building materials, tools, and four phones.
The letter was addressed to "The World" and contained the following confession: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster." The letter went on to offer $150,000 to anyone who could successfully assassinate the former president.
“It is up to you now to finish the job," the letter continued.
On Monday, Barr released an excoriating statement on the DOJ's public release of the letter, calling the move an incitement of further violence.
“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 said. “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.” Former AG Barr 'dumbfounded' at DOJ’s decision to release letter of Trump would-be assassin https://t.co/yAMCXtOCUK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 23, 2024
Barr went on to say the DOJ had "more than enough evidence" to keep Routh locked up without the need to release the letter.
“Even if DOJ thought it important to provide the letter to the court, it could have redacted inflammatory material or arranged to have the letter submitted under seal,” he said. “It was rash to put out this letter in the midst of an election during which two attempts on the life of President Trump had been made.”
“It served no purpose other than to risk inciting further violence,” he added.
