Exclusive: The House Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation after the Department of Justice released a manifesto from a suspected assassination attempt on President Trump, warning that the move could inspire copycat attacks and “cause further harm.”
Fox News Digital has obtained the letter that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday after the Department of Justice released a letter, or manifesto, outlining Ryan Routh's plot to assassinate President Trump.
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Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents found a rifle protruding from a chain-link fence at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president was playing golf.
In court filings this week, the Department of Justice released a letter Routh wrote “to the world” in which he described his operation as an “assassination attempt against Donald Trump.” If he failed, Routh offered a $150,000 reward to anyone who could “complete the mission.”
The letter was released as evidence of a detention memo by the Department of Justice in an effort to secure Routh's detention.
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating the Department of Justice over the publication of a manifesto by a man suspected in an assassination attempt on President Trump. (Getty Images)
“Throughout your tenure as Attorney General, the Department of Justice has generally refused to release details of so-called 'manifestos' written by perpetrators of high-profile crimes,” Jordan wrote, “but earlier this week, the Department of Justice filed a letter in court in which a man in Florida who plotted to assassinate President Donald J. Trump on September 15, 2024, put a $150,000 bounty on President Trump.”
Jordan warned that the decision to make the manifesto public appears to run counter to the State Department's policy of “public release of legacy tokens, aka the manifesto, which could lead to further attacks by Spark.”[ing] It has sparked “incredibly intense interest and research” from potential copycats and provides a blueprint for future attackers.
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“The Department of Defense's decision to broadcast a bounty for an assassination attempt on President Trump at the same time that it is aggressively and unconstitutionally prosecuting President Trump raises serious concerns that the Department may be causing further harm,” Jordan wrote.
Congressman Jim Jordan walks through the Longworth Congressional Office Building in Washington, DC (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
Jordan is now asking the Department of Justice to share all documents and communications that reference the FBI's May 2023 “Protecting Legacy Tokens” memo, as well as all records that reference or relate to the release of the would-be assassin's letter to “the world.”
Jordan requested the records by 5 p.m. on October 9th.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Routh, 58, has been charged by the Department of Justice with attempting to assassinate President Trump, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Louth He has also been indicted. He has been charged with possession of an obliterated firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, with more serious charges likely pending. The gun had a round in the chamber and was loaded with 11 rounds in total.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Routh is the second assassin to attempt on President Trump's life this year.
“The Department of Justice is committed to thoroughly investigating every lead with the full force of our authority and seeking accountability in this matter,” Garland said Wednesday. “Our country has now seen two assassination attempts on a former president in the last three months.”
“That's abhorrent,” Garland added.
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Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet fired by suspect Thomas Crooks, who was shot and killed by federal agents at the former president's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
