Merrick Garland not ready to hand off Donald Trump threat probe to Florida

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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is sidestepping a plea from Donald Trump to let Ron DeSantis and the Sunshine State handle the investigation of the latest attempt on the former President’s life.

“As I said, immediately after the event, the Justice Department would spare no resource to ensure accountability in this matter,” Garland said during a press conference in Washington, D.C.

Garland said the feds have been “working around the clock to discover the necessary evidence to ensure accountability,” and that “further additional charges will soon be filed” against would-be assassin Ryan Routh, who waited for Trump on his South Florida golf course to gun him down just over a week ago.

Routh is being held on gun charges currently.

Regarding Florida’s unsolicited state-level probe, Garland said the feds “always seek to cooperate and to get assistance from state and local law enforcement to the extent consistent with and with the law and appropriate with respect to the investigations.”

It’s not immediately clear how much reassurance that will give the former President.

Claiming the “Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July,” Trump said Monday he trusts state officials to handle the probe.

“If the DOJ and FBI cannot do their job honestly and without bias, and hold the aspiring assassin responsible to the full extent of the Law, Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida have already agreed to take the lead on the investigation and prosecution,” Trump said in a prepared statement.

Routh faces two counts: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He could get 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if convicted of these charges, which currently fall short of what DeSantis wants for a “violation of state law, not federal law.”

“The federal government does not have jurisdiction to bring an attempted murder charge,” DeSantis said. “They don’t have jurisdiction over a case that’s not a federal official, the apparent winner of a Presidential Election or the formally declared President-elect. So right then and there we have the ability to pursue potentially life in prison under state law.”

During a Fox News interview after Garland’s remarks, former Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Garland and the feds should be on board for Florida’s “concurrent investigation,” suggesting state officials would be less likely to botch the trial of Routh than Garland.

“If the case falls apart, Florida can always pick it up” due to their “concurrent jurisdiction,” Bondi said on “The Story with Martha McCallum.”