(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On Wednesday, attorneys for alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh filed a motion for termination of appointment of counsel, claiming that “the attorney-client relationship is irreconcilably broken.”
Attorneys said Routh refused to meet with them for a scheduled in-person meeting Tuesday morning at the federal detention center in Miami. They said Routh has refused six attempts to meet with their team.
“It is clear that Mr. Routh wishes to represent himself, and he is within his Constitutional rights to make such a demand,” the motion said.
Alleged would-be Trump assassin seems confused about the so-called hearsay rule, which allows the DOJ to present statements made by Routh out of court — but doesn't allow Routh the same privilege.
"How can my out-of-court statements be inadmissible hearsay–it is not even… https://t.co/pn0E2VkbMY pic.twitter.com/wpb68XOmw7— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) July 24, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have a right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney.
Meanwhile, Routh is also battling the Justice Department over what evidence can be presented in front of his jury.
The DOJ wants to present excerpts of text messages and other statements made by Routh as evidence of his assassination plot. However, the DOJ says Routh shouldn’t be afforded the same privilege because his out-of-court statements constitute “hearsay.”
For instance, the DOJ wants to present excerpts from Routh’s “Dear World” letter, which was found after he allegedly tried shooting Trump at his Florida golf course last September. In the letter, Routh apologizes for failing to kill Trump, and offers a bounty for anyone to finish the job. The DOJ presumably wants to present that excerpt from the letter, but not allow Routh to show a jury the entire letter for its full context.
In a Tuesday letter to Judge Aileen Cannon, Routh said he thinks that’s unjust.
“How can my out-of-court statements be inadmissible hearsay–it is not even hearsay–it is direct factual comments from the horse’s mouth,” he asked.
“You want to exclude our sniper expert and now all witnesses — do we even need to show up???” he added, disclosing that he apparently has witnesses he wants to call. It’s unclear who those witnesses might be. Routh was in touch with a number of people in the lead up to Sept. 15, including a human smuggler in Mexico, operatives in Ukraine, and Afghan commandos in Iran.
Routh will return to court Thursday to once again explain why he wants to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself. He has another hearing scheduled for Friday on the admissibility of certain evidence and testimony that can be used for the trial.
Routh is scheduled to stand trial in September, a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted his attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
