One group is doing its best to make sure that scrutiny happens. The conservative group America First Legal (AFL) announced on Tuesday that they are launching an investigation into whether the Biden-Harris administration was surveilling Ryan Wesley Routh, the man suspected of attempting to assassinate President Trump on Sunday. The group described it as a "multi-front" investigation examining any records the administration might have on Routh. A press release from AFL cited Routh's lengthy criminal history and, more recently, his activities surrounding the war in Ukraine and volatile online criticism of Trump to determine what, if any, possible threat to Trump he was and any government knowledge of such a threat. 

The list of departments and agencies AFL has sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests is extensive. It includes the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Departments of Justice, Defense, and State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Routh was no stranger to government agencies. He was on the FBI's radar as early as 2019 when they were tipped off to the fact that he owned a weapon despite being a convicted felon. 

/5 This new investigation follows our similar July 16, 2024, multi-front investigation of the first assassination attempt against President Trump in Pennsylvania. https://t.co/W644WWK7SP

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) September 17, 2024

It's hard to imagine that AFL will not find something that the Biden-Harris administration did not know about. My colleague Teri Christoph has reported on Routh's very public activities and statements. As an obsessive supporter of Ukrainian victory in the Russia- Ukraine conflict, Routh penned a book called "Ukraine's Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment, and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea, and the [E]nd of Humanity." It is a disjointed manifesto that includes an apology to Iran and advocates for the assassination of Trump, possibly by Iran.

Routh had a vocal online presence, and it is certainly something that AFL will want to look into. It could give some insight into what, if anything, the Biden administration may have known about. But if this investigation is anything like the Butler, PA investigation, AFL could have an uphill battle on their hands. On Monday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) released a report on the first Trump assassination attempt on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, the details of which were provided mainly by whistleblowers who revealed an alarming account of failures and incompetence on the part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secret Service. In a similar investigation launched by AFL after the first assassination attempt, information was also requested as to whether additional security was requested and denied by DHS and Secret Service leadership.  

AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton put out his own press release on Tuesday about the new investigation, saying, 

“In just a few months, the American people witnessed two assassination attempts of former President Donald Trump. Undoubtedly, based on public reporting about the attempted assassin in Florida, the Biden-Harris government has records that the American public is entitled to see.”

Hamilton went on to say that it would be highly unlikely that anyone would become involved in a foreign conflict while also attempting to recruit others "without someone knowing something." But after two assassination attempts in as many months, it's time for the American people to know: What did Joe know, and when did he know it?

The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.

The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP…

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 16, 2024