WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors said Monday that the man accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his private golf club in Florida stalked the Republican presidential candidate for a month and offered $150,000 in a letter to anyone who could “finish the job,” according to a up-to-date court filing.
Federal prosecutors described in detail how Ryan Routh left a handwritten note criticizing Trump’s Middle East policy, particularly the termination of U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you,” the note reads, according to court documents. “I tried my best and mustered all my courage. Now it’s up to you to finish the job. And I’ll offer $150,000 to whoever finishes the job.”
Prosecutors said cellphone records showed Routh was near “Trump International and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence” from August 18 to September 15 – the day of the assassination attempt.
When police searched Routh’s car after his arrest, they also found a “handwritten list of dates in August, September and October 2024 and locations where the former president had appeared or was expected to be present,” according to court documents.
The FBI is investigating the incident as an obvious attempted murder, after which first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump suffered an ear injury. Trump was not injured at his golf club in Florida and the US Secret Service confirmed that Routh did not fire his weapon.
Florida’s Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, however, is question the FBI’s jurisdiction as the lead authority in the investigation.
In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, she argues that because Trump lives in Florida, the Sunshine State “understandably has a desire to investigate violations of its own laws, including attempted murders.”
Moody also urged Wray that the FBI and Justice Department should not invoke U.S. law that would override state and local jurisdiction in a federal investigation, but instead allow Florida authorities access to evidence of the shooting.
“To be clear, I believe it would be a grave mistake for the federal government to invoke this provision, and I urge you to cooperate with the state’s investigation rather than attempting to thwart it,” she wrote.
Moody asked Wray to clarify by Friday whether the federal government would invoke that provision. United States Code, Section 351, Title 18, (f).
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis also argued that Florida should conduct its own investigation. He signed an executive order last week to refer the case to the prosecutor’s office, which will be under Moody’s supervision.
Trump issued a lengthy statement tardy Monday criticizing the Justice Department and the FBI, accusing authorities of “mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July.”
“If the Department of Justice and the FBI cannot do their jobs honestly and impartially and hold the would-be assassin accountable to the fullest extent of the law, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead in the investigation and prosecution,” Trump said in a statement. “The charges in Florida would be far more serious than those announced by the FBI.”
The up-to-date court filing came ahead of Routh’s appearance Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Last week Routh was charged of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and of defacing the serial number of a firearm, court records show. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
