The U.S. Secret Service admitted this week to failing to search the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, just before President Donald Trump hit the links on Sunday.
When pressed on why the Secret Service failed to spot a Democratic donor —
known to the FBI — who apparently had camped out at the course for 12 hours with an SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle, acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe blamed the intended target, telling reporters that Trump “wasn’t supposed to have gone there in the first place.”
While the USSS is
facing criticism over its latest bungling of Trump’s security, its parent agency also appears to have dropped the ball.
Just the News
reported that Trump critic Alejandro Mayorkas’ Department of Homeland Security was prompted to investigate suspected would-be assassin Ryan Routh upon his return home from Ukraine last year after U.S. border officials flagged him as suspect, but the agency didn’t bother to act.
‘Simply get all military gear and money.’
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly interviewed Routh at the Honolulu airport in June 2023. Officials knew of his travels to Poland, specifically to Warsaw near the Ukrainian border, as well as to Istanbul, Turkey. They were also aware of his efforts to recruit mercenaries from Taiwan, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and Moldova to fight in Ukraine against the Russians.
Blaze News
previously noted that Routh ran a website called “Fight for Ukraine,” which details various ways — including unlawful ways — people could supposedly go to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine.
“Simply get all military gear and money and fly to Krakow[, Poland]. Take an intercity train or bus to Przemyśl. Take a local train or bus to Medyka. Make your way to the border with Ukraine,” wrote Routh.
While Routh was keen on having civilians from across the globe put their lives on the line in Ukraine, he never fought himself,
reported the New York Times, whose reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff first heard of Routh through a former Afghan special operations soldier in Iran.
Routh hatched a grand scheme to get militants fleeing the Taliban to go fight for Kiev. His X feed was
littered with failed pleas to Western defense officials and organizations to allow such Afghan mercenaries into Ukraine.
Extra to attempting to recruit mercenaries, while in Ukraine, Routh also demonstrated in support of the Azov Brigade, an outfit
associated with neo-Nazis since its inception.
The brigade
said in a statement this week it “has no connection” to Routh and that rumors to the contrary are “playing along with Russian propaganda.”
According the records reviewed by Just the News, Routh gave the border officials interviewing him a card stating that he was the director of a group called the “International Volunteer Center.”
USA Today
indicated Monday it tried calling a number associated with Routh and was greeted by a voicemail message identifying the number’s owner as “Ryan in Hawaii,” working with the “National Volunteer Center, sending soldiers to Ukraine, as well as Taiwan.”
The International Volunteer Center in Ukraine made clear it hasn’t worked with Routh,
telling the New York Post, “We have been officially registered as an organization in Ukraine since October 2023. Prior to the recent developments, none of us had any knowledge of Mr. Routh or any other entity named the International Volunteer Center, aside from our own registered organization.”
‘There’s one person you guys need to keep an eye on, because he’s a ticking time bomb.’
Ukraine’s foreign legion — which Routh frequently contacted — has characterized the suspected would-be assassin as a charlatan and
denied his involvement in the unit.
According to CBP’s memo pertaining to Routh’s interview, “Subject is a USC who had traveled to Kiev, Ukraine for 3 months to help recruit Soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova, and Taiwan, to fight in the Ukrainian war against Russia.”
“Subject stated that he does not get paid for his recruiting efforts and all his work for the Ukrainian government is strictly volunteer work Subject provided his recruiting business card (cards have been uploaded into the event) which list his recruiting partners that he speaks with to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Romanian, Pakistan, Syria, and Israel,” continues the memo reviewed by Just the News. “Subject stated that he obtains money from his wife to help fund his trips to Ukraine.”
The memo further stated that Routh was referred to the DHS’ Homeland Security Investigations but that HSI declined to look into the matter.
“HSI was contacted and refused the case,” said the memo.
When pressed for comment, the DHS referred Just the News to the FBI, which is overseeing the investigation into the assassination attempt.
The DHS also apparently failed to take action in response to another concerning report submitted by Chelsea Walsh, a nurse from West Palm Beach who encountered Routh in Kiev in 2022.
Walsh was so worried about Routh’s volatile nature and threats of violence that she reported him to a CBP officer at Washington’s Dulles airport in June 2022 after returning from Ukraine.
Walsh
told WPTV-TV, “As a nurse, we are trained to detect when people are a threat to themselves or others, and I was beginning to realize more and more that Ryan was a threat to others.”
At the airport, “[the agent] said that he represented Homeland Security and he was only interested in homeland security threats,” said Walsh.
“I told him, ‘Then there’s one person you guys need to keep an eye on, because he’s a ticking time bomb. His name is Ryan Routh, and he lives in Hawaii. He’s coming back from Ukraine eventually, and someone needs to follow up with him.'”
Walsh said the DHS never followed up with her.
The FBI — whose agent in charge of the Miami field office, Jeffrey Veltri, was
reportedly compelled to scrub his social media history because of his anti-Trump rhetoric — also appears to have let Routh slip off its radar.
Blaze News
previously reported that the FBI received a complaint in 2019 that Routh had a firearm. Owing to Routh’s felonious record, including a 2002 conviction on a possession of a weapon of mass destruction charge, the complaint would ostensibly have been grounds for an interview at the very least.
Veltri said at a press conference Monday, “When following up on the tip, the alleged complainant was interviewed and did not verify, I repeat, did not verify providing the initial information. The FBI passed that information on to local law enforcement in Honolulu.”
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Dhs, Department of homeland security, Homeland security, Alejandro mayorkas, Mayorkas, Ryan routh, Routh, Donald trump, Assassination, Assassination attempt, Fbi, Usss, Secret service, Security, Politics