EXCLUSIVE – Former Attorney General William Barr says he is “dumbfounded” that the Justice Department released a chilling letter penned by would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh on Monday, calling the decision “rash” and serving no purpose “other than to risk inciting further violence.”
Routh is the suspect in former President Donald Trump’s second foiled assassination attempt. The DOJ obtained the letter from a witness who says they received it inside a box delivered to them by Routh several months prior to the assassination attempt.
The box contained several handwritten letters as well as ammunition, among other things. One of the letters, addressed “Dear World,” admitted to an assassination attempt on Trump. He also offered money to anyone willing to finish the job.
“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 in a statement to Fox News Digital.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT ROUTH NOT TO BE RELEASED
Foremr U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr holds a news conference to provide an update on the investigation of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on the 32nd anniversary of the attack, at the Department of Justice December 21, 2020 in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images))
“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,” he continued.
Barr, who served during both the Trump and George H. W. Bush administrations, says that “DOJ had more than enough evidence to have Routh detained pending trial, without publicizing these details.”
“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. 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,” Barr said.
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Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course, stands handcuffed after his arrest during a traffic stop near Palm City, Florida, U.S., September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriffs Office/Handout via REUTERS)
“It served no purpose other than to risk inciting further violence,” he added.
The department’s detention memo revealed that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 14, a month before the Sept. 15 golf course incident. One of Routh’s cell phones pinged cell towers near Trump’s golf course and his Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, the detention memo alleged.
Investigators say they also found a book Routh had authored in 2023, titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, WWIII and the End of Humanity.”
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A court sketch depicts Ryan Routh as he appears in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, September 23, 2024. (Lothar Speer)
The detention memo also provided a fresh detail on the witness who saw Routh flee the sniper’s nest. The witness made eye contact with the suspect before Routh jumped into a Nissan Xterra and sped away. The witness is credited with photographing the vehicle and reporting it to law enforcement.
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The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Routh will likely face additional charges in the coming days, which could include aggravated assault for allegedly pointing the rifle at a Secret Service agent and making threats against a former president, State Attorney Dave Aronberg previously told Fox News Digital.