Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh can't see classified info relating to case, judge rules
Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in a ruling Friday that "the United States has made a sufficient showing that the information at issue was classified" and that its disclosure "could cause serious damage or exceptionally grave damages to the national security of the United States."
"The Court finds that the United States properly invoked the provisions of [the] Classified Information Procedures Act and its classified information privilege as to the information referenced in the classified order," she added in granting a motion filed by federal prosecutors.
Routh, 59, was recently granted approval to represent himself in his upcoming trial. He was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, assaulting a federal officer and multiple firearms violations stemming from the Sept. 15, 2024 incident in Florida, the second attempted assassination plot against Trump in a matter of months. Routh has pleaded not guilty.
Prior to allowing Routh to represent himself, Cannon told him in late July that his court-appointed attorneys "will defend you far better than you can defend yourself" and "I strongly urge you not to make this decision."
Fox News Digital also reported in July that Routh wrote an unusual letter to the judge asking why the death penalty isn't on the table—and proposing that he be included in a prisoner swap with U.S. adversaries, even suggesting he be sent to freeze in Siberia in exchange for a Ukrainian soldier.
"Why is the death penalty not allowed? At nearly 60, a life of nothingness without love—what is the point? Why is it not all or nothing?" Routh wrote in the letter filed on the case docket.
"I had wished for a prisoner swap with Hamas, Iran... or China for Jimmy Lai or one of the 40 others, or to freeze to death in Siberia in exchange for a Ukrainian soldier... so I could die being of some use and save all this court mess."
He then sarcastically added that the judge could send him away, which would give Trump a symbolic win.
"Perhaps you [Judge Cannon] have the power to trade me away... An easy diplomatic victory for Trump to give an American he hates to China, Iran, or North Korea... everyone wins."
Cannon is the same judge that was presiding over Trump's classified documents case, which she dismissed in July 2024. That case dealt with the FBI's investigation into Trump and its raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
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