Trump came out guns blazing against prosecutors trying 'to protect him': Legal expert

Former President Donald Trump immediately leaped to attack prosecutors trying to charge his would-be assassin on the basis that they hadn't brought charges of attempted assassination yet. But on Tuesday, prosecutors did just that, noted former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance on X.

Ryan Routh was apprehended by the Secret Service after authorities said he tried to attack Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property with a high-powered rifle. Federal prosecutors initially charged him with unlawful gun possession as a felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Trump accused prosecutors of deliberately lowballing the charges for political reasons.

"BREAKING: The Kamala Harris/Joe Biden Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July," Trump said in a statement. "The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist. It's no wonder, since the DOJ and FBI have been coming after me nonstop with Weaponized Lawfare since I announced my first Historic Campaign for the Presidency."

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He then accused prosecutors and federal agents of having a "Conflict of Interest since they have been obsessed with 'Getting Trump' for so long."

But this is nonsense, argued Vance.

In reality, prosecutors were preparing an indictment for assassination all along and filed immediately lesser charges so they could keep him behind bars as they prepared the main case. That strategy was proven correct when assassination charges were officially revealed Tuesday.

"As suggested, DOJ in fact went to a grand jury & obtained an indictment for attempted assassination. Trump is criticizing people who are working at lightening speed to protect him," wrote Vance. "Routh is charged with trying to assassinate a major political party's candidate to be president & with a gun charge that carries a mandatory 5 year sentence, perhaps more depending on the facts DOJ develops. He is also charged with/assaulting a fed'l officer & the gun charges."

In another twist of fate, the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the same far-right Trump appointee who issued the under-appeal decision to toss Trump's federal charges for mishandling classified information.