WASHINGTON – Florida is suing the Justice Department to stop federal authorities from blocking the state’s investigation into the second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the state's Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a complaint against Attorney General Merrick Garland after the Justice Department told Florida to temporarily halt its investigation until the federal probe concluded. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis previously said that Florida would pursue state charges against the suspect, Ryan Routh, who is already facing federal charges.
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Florida officials were told to not interview witnesses and that they could only cooperate with the federal investigation, the lawsuit says. Justice Department officials cited the federal law, which says an attempted assassination of a political candidate shall be investigated by the FBI and that state jurisdiction is suspended if the federal government steps in, according to the complaint.
Florida says it's suing to “vindicate its sovereign interest to investigate violations of state law, as delay may impact the outcome of any prosecution."
The Justice Department declined to comment. Markenzy Lapointe, the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida, noted in a letter to Moody that was filed in court that the law doesn't prevent Florida from prosecuting once the federal case is over. And the law “in no way prevents the sharing of federal evidence with state authorities after the federal matter has ended," he wrote.
DeSantis announced the state probe two days after the Sept. 15 incident at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach. Authorities previously said the assassination attempt was thwarted when a member of Trump’s Secret Service protective detail spotted a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line. The agent fired in the direction of the suspect, who sped away and was arrested in a neighboring county.
Routh pleaded not guilty to all federal charges. Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials previously said.
Prosecutors have said that Routh wrote of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his arrest. Routh's note referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.
The incident came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart the attempted attack in Florida.