(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The FBI admitted Monday that it received a tip in 2019 about alleged failed Trump assassin Ryan Routh illegally having a firearm—but the bureau passed the info to local law enforcement instead of opening an investigation.
It looks like the FBI’s Monday admission might only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the federal government’s awareness of Routh’s shady activities. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Routh was reported to Customs and Border Protection in June 2022, and then the State Department, FBI and Interpol last year.
According to WSJ, Routh was reported to CBP, which is housed in the Department of Homeland Security, in 2022 by a nurse who had several encounters with him in Kyiv, Ukraine. The nurse, Chelsea Walsh, told agents that “Routh was among the most dangerous Americans she met during her month-and-a-half-long stint in Ukraine.”
Routh was reportedly among more than a dozen Americans whose actions alarmed the nurse during her time in Ukraine. According to her notes shown to WSJ, Routh was actually arrested while in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal published the best story on the 2nd Trump assassination attempt to date today, revealing that he had dealings with an "ex" CIA agent who was running a network of non-profits in Ukraine.
WSJ also published an excerpt from a travel nurse in Ukraine, who said… pic.twitter.com/VrYWCAEQcr— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 17, 2024
Others were alarmed about Routh, too—including an ex-CIA officer named Sarah Adams, who reportedly helped run a network that linked 50 aid groups with each other.
“Beware of American Ryan Routh,” Adams warned Ukraine aid groups in a June 2, 2023, message, according to the WSJ.
Those aid groups then reported Routh to the State Department, the WSJ reported.
“A lot of people were trying to get him to stop his activities, or at least prevent people from falling for his scams,” Adams told the newspaper.
Walsh, the nurse who first reported Routh to CBP in 2022, again reported him to the FBI and Interpol last year, after she heard that was attempting to recruit Syrian refugees to fight in Ukraine.
“She filed an online report with the FBI and Interpol outlining her concerns about Routh and others, she said. Neither Customs nor the FBI followed up with her,” the WSJ reported.
“But after the apparent attempt on Trump’s life Sunday, she called the FBI tip line and reported her concerns about Routh again in a 22-minute conversation.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
