(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On Feb. 25, defense attorneys for alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh visited the FBI to inspect the physical evidence against their client, including the rifle Routh was allegedly going to use against the President.
But according to the defense attorneys, the FBI disassembled Routh’s rifle after recovering it near Trump’s Florida golf course last September.
“The scope, black tape, brackets, and paper/plastic tubing were all removed from the rifle. Defense counsel does not know the exact circumstances surrounding the removal of these items from the scope, as those items were apparently boxed separately from the rifle and not made available for our evidence view,” defense attorneys Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola said in a Friday court filing.
The defense attorneys said that the FBI has “irreparably harmed” their case by disassembling the rifle.
“For example, it is now impossible for the defense to test whether the scope was attached in a wildly inaccurate or useless fashion, as it was taken off the rifle prior to any accuracy testing or location preservation by the government,” they said.
🚨NEW: The FBI has been accused of tainting evidence in the Trump attempted assassination case!
Ryan Routh's attorneys said they inspected his rifle at an FBI building on Feb. 25. However, the rifle had already been disassembled!
"It is now impossible for the defense to test… https://t.co/fVCiIV3AhU pic.twitter.com/p1v5kthzp1— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) March 30, 2025
Militello and Sihvola said they don’t have any proof the FBI acted in bad faith, which is why they’re not calling for the entire case to be tossed against their client. However, they asked for the opportunity to inspect and test the rifle to discover “any additional information” that may be useful and helpful to the defense. Alternatively, they asked for Judge Aileen Cannon to exclude the FBI’s expert evidence about the rifle altogether.
“Live fire testing would be insightful to potential defects in the rifle, accuracy of the rifle, and the capabilities/distance of the rifle,” the defense attorneys said.
The defense attorneys added that they want to make sure the rifle is functional, and also to see if it was capable of striking a target at a distance.
“It may have been impossible for the defendant to commit the alleged crime if the firearm was defective, inaccurate, or had a limited range,” they said.
“Unlike the government’s prior testing, which disassembled the rifle and made testing of it in its original condition impossible, the defense testing will not further destroy the evidence,” they said.
The Justice Department has yet to respond to the defense attorneys’ request.
Along with the issue of evidence spoliation, the defense also had until Friday to file any notices that Routh had an alibi to address the allegations against him. The defense attorneys didn’t file anything to that effect, so presumably Routh is not going to claim to have an alibi.
Prosecutors have accused Routh, 58, of Hawaii, of stalking Trump for a month before he built a sniper’s nest near the Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach.
Federal prosecutors charged Routh with possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
Routh’s trial is set for September.
The FBI also tainted evidence in the other assassination attempt against Trump last July. In that incident, the FBI hosed down the rooftop used by gunman Thomas Crooks immediately after the incident, and released Crooks’s body for cremation before members of Congress could examine it. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., later revealed that bullet fragments were still in Crooks’s body when it was cremated.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
