DOJ Should Defer to Florida on Second Trump Assassination Attempt

Author’s note: While not refuted, this column has been effectively superseded by this one, published two days later. At the time of this column, I had not realized that §351 of the federal penal code makes it a crime, among other things, to attempt to murder a major presidential candidate. I was thus under the misimpression that there was no such federal statute. As I related in the column, I was surprised by this omission (as I mistakenly believed it to be). As it turns out, I did miss §351. I note that when enacted it did not include major presidential candidates within its coverage. It was later amended to include within its coverage, among others, “a major Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate.” In addition, another statute, §115, potentially covers attempted murder of a former president — although, as the subsequent column elaborates, its application may be problematic in connection with Ryan Routh’s alleged attempted assassination of former President Trump. Finally, one of the reasons I opined in this column that the Justice Department should defer to Florida prosecutors — allowing them to be first in proceeding against Routh — was the Biden-Harris DOJ’s position (since late 2022) that Trump’s 2024 candidacy against Biden and Harris created a conflict that required DOJ to appoint a special counsel to Trump investigations. That basis for deference to the state would be stronger if, as I assumed, the federal government was not in a position to invoke a strong attempted-murder statute, as Florida’s government is. Given that the federal government does have at least one strong attempted-murder statute, the argument for federal deference to the state is not as forceful. In any event, as I’ve argued, the federal and state governments should cooperate and resist a turf war that could harm everyone’s prosecutorial efforts.

Obviously, both state and federal law-enforcement agencies are investigating yesterday’s apparent attempt by a 58-year-old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh to assassinate former president Donald Trump. This is as it should be.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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Author’s note: While not refuted, this column has been effectively superseded by this one, published two days later. At the time of this column, I had not realized that §351 of the federal penal code makes it a crime, among other things, to attempt to murder a major presidential candidate. I was thus under the misimpression that there was no such federal statute. As I related in the column, I was surprised by this omission (as I mistakenly believed it to be). As it turns out, I did miss §351. I note that when enacted it did not include major presidential candidates within its coverage. It was later amended to include within its coverage, among others, “a major Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate.” In addition, another statute, §115, potentially covers attempted murder of a former president — although, as the subsequent column elaborates, its application may be problematic in connection with Ryan Routh’s alleged attempted assassination of former President Trump. Finally, one of the reasons I opined in this column that the Justice Department should defer to Florida prosecutors — allowing them to be first in proceeding against Routh — was the Biden-Harris DOJ’s position (since late 2022) that Trump’s 2024 candidacy against Biden and Harris created a conflict that required DOJ to appoint a special counsel to Trump investigations. That basis for deference to the state would be stronger if, as I assumed, the federal government was not in a position to invoke a strong attempted-murder statute, as Florida’s government is. Given that the federal government does have at least one strong attempted-murder statute, the argument for federal deference to the state is not as forceful. In any event, as I’ve argued, the federal and state governments should cooperate and resist a turf war that could harm everyone’s prosecutorial efforts.

Obviously, both state and federal law-enforcement agencies are investigating yesterday’s apparent attempt by a 58-year-old man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh to assassinate former president Donald Trump. This is as it should be.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.