On Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland questioning his hypocrisy regarding the public release of the would-be assassin’s manifesto, which conveniently put a bounty on former President Donald Trump’s head.
In a court filing earlier this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the alleged manifesto, which outlined would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh’s plan to kill the former president at his Florida golf course on September 15 and offered a $150,000 bounty to anyone who could “complete the job” if he failed.
In a Wednesday letter to Garland, Jordan questioned the motivations behind the release of Routh’s manifesto — pointing out that it is not only in conflict with DOJ guidelines, but is incredibly hypocritical considering the department has refused to release prior manifestos.
“During your tenure as Attorney General, the Department has generally refused to release details about so-called ‘manifestos’ written by the perpetrators of high-profile crimes,” the House Judiciary Committee chairman wrote. “Yet, earlier this week, in a public court filing, the Department released a letter in which the man who sought to assassinate President Donald J. Trump in Florida on September 15, 2024, offered a $150,000 bounty on President Trump.”
Jordan went on to point out that releasing the manifesto could actually endanger Trump by becoming a blueprint for further attacks — which is something the DOJ has argued in response to requests for the release of manifestos in the past, including the transgender Nashville school shooter’s manifesto.
So the DOJ will immediately release a bounty letter from the Florida Trump assassin offering a $150k bounty to take out Trump, but wouldn’t release the Nashville Trans Terrorist Manifesto for over a year?
The DOJ needs a MASSIVE overhaul https://t.co/1AoFsLu2rv
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) September 23, 2024
“The Department’s decision to broadcast the attempted assassin’s bounty on President Trump — at the same time that the Department is aggressively and unconstitutionally prosecuting President Trump — raises significant concern that the Department could cause additional harm to occur,” he wrote.
Jordan concluded his letter by explaining that the House Judiciary Committee was investigating whether the DOJ had been “upholding its standard of impartiality” — requesting that the department hand over all documents and communications related to the manifesto and the FBI’s May 2023 “Protection of Legacy Tokens” memorandum. He provided the DOJ a deadline of October 9, 2024.
#NEWS: @Jim_Jordan probes AG Garland on Release of Attempted Trump Assassin’s Manifesto pic.twitter.com/6iEnrYuzJJ
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) September 25, 2024
Donald Trump Jr. responded to Jordan’s letter in a post on X, pointing out that “Kamala’s DOJ put my father’s life further at risk” by publishing the manifesto.
My friend @Jim_Jordan is 100% right here. Kamala's DOJ put my father's life further at risk!!!!
Fox News: House Judiciary investigating DOJ for release of Routh manifesto offering $150k Trump bountyhttps://t.co/sf8dJaUZjQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 25, 2024
