Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr criticized the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday for publicly releasing a letter from a man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. Barr argued that releasing the letter served no purpose other than to potentially incite further violence against the Republican nominee.
Former Trump AG William Barr says he is dumbfounded that the DOJ would release suspected Trump assassin Routh's letter offering a reward for Trump's assassination. Barr said it serves no purpose other than to incite more violence against Trump. https://t.co/bA4FbJoSr2
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The DOJ included the letter in court filings while seeking to keep the accused, Ryan Routh, in pretrial detention. On Monday, the judge denied Routh’s bond.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you.” the letter, written months prior and found in belongings Routh left with someone else, stated. “I tried my best and gave it all the effort I could. It is now up to you to finish the job; I will offer $150,000 to whoever completes it.”
Barr expressed shock that the DOJ had not redacted the letter’s contents in court filings.
“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 stated. “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.”
Barr further argued that the DOJ already had sufficient evidence to justify keeping Routh detained without revealing the inflammatory content of 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,” the former AG noted. “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.”
He emphasized that making the letter public seemed to serve no purpose other than risking further violence.
Routh had a criminal record that prohibited him from owning firearms, and Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that Routh had made donations exclusively to Democratic candidates.
