Tipsheet

There It Is: The FBI Knew About Trump's Assassin Since 2019

In a joint FBI and Secret Service presser, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe did a victory lap of sorts, touting the security plan “worked” regarding the former president's last-minute golf outing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida (via AP): 

U.S. Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe said that protective measures are working after the latest apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump. 

Rowe said he spoke with the former president and that Trump is “aware that he has the highest levels of protection” from the agency. 

Rowe said agents did their jobs to the letter when they noticed a man poking a rifle through the bushes at Trump’s golf course on Sunday. 

Rowe said the golf trip wasn’t on Trump’s schedule so they put together a security plan. 

“And that security plan worked out. 

To recap, a man with a rifle got within 350-500 yards of the former president. A complete security sweep wasn’t conducted before Trump's arrival on the course—agents swept ahead of the former president. Would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was on the course, ready to attack Trump for at least 12 hours. How did he know about Trump’s golf outing? How could he hide for so long? It sounds like the Secret Service was lucky. 

Regarding one of the questions surrounding this second assassination attempt concerning when/if the FBI knew, we learned that the bureau did know about Routh in 2019. It involved an investigation into illegal possession of a firearm. Routh’s rap sheet could span the continental United States, so how he was able to obtain firearms remains a mystery, though, as in the past, I’m sure we’ll find out that it was some form of government incompetence. It could also be that criminals don’t follow federal firearms laws.

We still don’t know if Routh acted alone, and federal agencies are still investigating that aspect of this incident.

Rowe was animated in this presser, highlighting the excellent work the men and women of his agency do, along with the support he receives from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, someone whose gross incompetence should preclude his name being mentioned in any remarks relating with good government work.