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Jonathan Turley Says Alleged Would-Be Trump Assassin Has Just 1 Hail Mary Left In His Playbook

Screenshot/Rumble/Fox News

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday that the “only hope” an alleged would-be assassin of President Donald Trump has in his trial could be to take the stand.

A Secret Service agent thwarted the assassination attempt on Trump by firing shots at Ryan Wesley Routh, who was allegedly lurking near Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15, 2024. Turley said that Routh needed to connect with at least one juror to hope for a mistrial after “Fox and Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones worried about appeals.

“What I’m worried about in this situation is, of course, he has a legal right to defend himself, but it hasn’t been a quality trial, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Could this be overturned when it comes to appeal, based on the representation?” Jones asked Turley, who responded, “No, I think the judge has done an excellent job trying to get him through this, trying in many ways to teach him to be a lawyer and trying to keep him between those navigational beacons.”

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“You have a right to self-representation, but it doesn’t mean you have a right to good self-representation,” Turley continued. “This case is bizarre. I mean, his defense has all the substance and support of a dating app profile. I mean, he is talking about himself as I’m a peacekeeper, I’m a man who’s trying to bring peace around the world. Writing a note that you are going to kill the president doesn’t exactly make you Gandhi.”

Federal prosecutors released Routh’s letter in a Sept. 23, 2024, court filing. Routh was a prolific critic of Trump on social media and had over 100 run-ins with law enforcement, according to Fox News.

Routh allegedly self-published a book that urged Iran to carry out its threats to assassinate Trump in response to a January 2020 drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a high-ranking member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the New York Post reported.

“So, if you put yourself on the stand, prosecutors are allowed to get into that,” Turley told Jones. “That may be his only hope is to try to go on the stand and have a connection with one or two jurors. But that means you will have to stay there as prosecutors hit you. This guy is so tightly constructed and he’s so delusional that that cross-examination is going to be painful.”