Justice Department seeks to build attempted murder case against man charged in Trump golf course incident

Federal investigators are examining electronic devices and other evidence as they seek to bring more serious charges against the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Florida golf course, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.

Investigators have yet to determine whether there is a foreign connection, including to Iranian threats against the former president or to Routh’s previous foreign travel, sources told CNN. So far, there is no indication that the suspect was motivated or received instructions from foreign elements to target Trump.

Routh has not cooperated with the FBI since his arrest Sunday, the sources said, and he currently faces only gun charges.

But prosecutors and investigators have made clear that they view the incident as an apparent plot to kill the former president and are working to build a case with these additional charges.

The move is complicated in part because the Secret Service has said Routh did not have a line of sight to Trump from where he stood on the golf course perimeter, and he did not fire a shot before a Secret Service agent shot him and he fled. That means prosecutors will have to use other evidence to establish his intent that day.

Palm Beach County District Attorney David Aronberg said federal investigators must have clear evidence that Routh intended to target Trump and take a substantial step toward doing so if they are to bring the maximum number of charges against him.

“You don’t have to fire a gunshot to be charged with attempted murder of a former president or presidential candidate,” Aronberg, who is not in charge of the case but worked with authorities on Routh’s first arrest, told CNN. “Those are federal charges that could be in play.”

“But proving it is another matter,” he added, noting that investigators are looking for writings or messages from Routh that show he targeted Trump and that they could use as evidence of express intent.

Routh is scheduled to appear at a detention hearing Monday where prosecutors will argue for his continued detention ahead of trial. He has not yet entered a plea, and prosecutors could file additional charges at any time. CNN has reached out to Routh’s defense attorney for comment.

Looking for witnesses and possible links abroad

Federal investigators continue to examine Routh’s devices and other electronics and conduct interviews with potential witnesses, which they hope will shed more light on his intentions and motivations. Investigators have spoken to Routh’s family and friends from North Carolina to Hawaii, where they searched a home where he lived.

The FBI is still investigating the possibility of a foreign connection, given the range of threats against the former president from abroad and details of Routh’s travel to other countries, including Ukraine.

Chelsea Walsh, who reported Routh’s name to federal authorities in 2022 after meeting him while working as a nurse in kyiv and finding his behavior disturbing, told CNN she called the FBI after the apparent assassination attempt earlier this week.

The FBI followed up that call with an in-person conversation, Walsh said, although she declined to say what was discussed.

Routh was arrested by Customs and Border Patrol upon returning to the United States from Ukraine and referred to Homeland Security Investigations, HSI Associate Executive Director Katrina Berger told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Berger told a House committee that she believed there was no reason to arrest him at the time, but did not say whether an investigation was underway.

“From the information I’ve read, there was no reason to immediately take him into custody. He had not made any threats, for example, against the president or former President Trump,” Berger said.

“HSI responds to calls at ports of entry – probably hundreds of calls a day. Just because someone is not immediately taken into custody doesn’t mean they aren’t subject to a longer-term investigation,” she added.

Concerns about a possible foreign connection stem, in part, from recent intelligence about Iranian plots to assassinate Trump, which raised concerns about his safety before and after a gunman opened fire at the former president’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Investigators have so far found no evidence linking Iran or any other foreign government to the suspect arrested Sunday or to the gunman who previously tried to assassinate Trump at his rally in Butler.

But the Iranian threat, in particular, remains a major concern for U.S. officials and has prompted the FBI to seriously investigate the possibility of a foreign link in both cases.

Routh’s Social Media History

Investigators are also using Routh’s social media history to try to better understand his intent and motive.

This includes online posts in which Routh places his hostility toward Trump at the center of a disjointed and fanciful worldview that focuses on Ukraine, Taiwan, North Korea and what he calls the “end of humanity.”

In June 2020, Routh appeared to say that he had voted for Trump in 2016 but had since withdrawn his support for the former president.

“I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we have all been very disappointed and it seems that you are degrading and regressing,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I will be happy when you are gone.”

Routh also mentioned Trump in his book, which appears on Amazon without a publisher being named, and is titled “The Unwinnable War in Ukraine: Democracy’s Fatal Flaw, World Abandonment, and the Global Citizen – Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, and the End of Humanity.”

In the post, he describes the former US president’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 as a “huge mistake” that brought Tehran closer to Moscow, to which it then supplied drones that wreaked havoc across Ukraine.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh also wrote of Iran in the apparently self-published book.

According to Aronberg, these posts alone would likely not be enough to charge Routh with attempting to assassinate Trump.

But prosecutors also have the option of charging Routh with other crimes, including aggravated assault with a firearm against a federal law enforcement officer.

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