September 17, 2024 • 10 mins
Aronberg on why he decided not to pursue state charges against Ryan Routh. Gov. DeSantis has ordered a statewide prosector to investigate at the same time as the federal investigation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm for WJNO dot com in the Florida
News Network. Governor de Santis at the pom Beach County
Sheriff's Office this morning announced that he is issuing an
executive order to appoint a statewide prosecutor to investigate the
second parent attempted assassination a former President Trump, this time
at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.
(00:25):
Pob Beach County State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg had said originally
on Sunday that he may investigated on the state level,
and then had a different answer for that on Monday.
We have the state attorney on the line. Thank you
for coming on with me. Great to be back with you, Jill,
Thanks for having me now. Your office did put out
a statement saying that our office is involvement ended. When
(00:47):
federal prosecutors and investigators took over the case. You also
referenced it you didn't want to have any kind of
a turf for Can you kind of expand on that
a little?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, Pretty normal for the said to come in and
to assume jurisdiction over some of our cases. When they
do so, we defer to them. We stand down generally
that there are a few exceptions, but in general this
is the procedure, especially when it involves an attempted assassination
attempt of a foreign president. When the Feds want to
(01:18):
come in and take over the investigation and the charges,
then we'd let them do so, because you don't want
to have turf for us. I mean that the public
expects us to work together, not to fight each other.
And you know, we're we have a great working relationship
with them, and we defer to them most of the time.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Now, one of the things that the governor referenced today,
he said that the federal government can't file attempted murder
charges against Ruths because Trump is not a sitting president
or president elect. And so he says that only only
the state could do that. And as we sit here speaking,
(01:58):
the suspect is facing two gun charges, and I say
that's it. Obviously. You know, there's twenty years of possible
maximum sentence there worry to be convicted. But you know,
first of all, is that a fact. And as far
as the federal government can't because he's not a federal
(02:20):
I guess employee or whatever, there is a federal statute
that makes it a crime to murder or attempt to
murder a major presidential candidate, and so the question is
whether the Trump campaign whether Trump would qualify under that law,
because there.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Are some hoops to jump through. Now it's clear he
is a major presidential candidate, but the term is defined
in the law. Specifically, there's a committee appointed and a
designation by the Department of Homeland Security. So assuming that happened,
then the federal law would cover it. The one thing
I agree with Governor Santus and a training Gental Moody
(02:58):
on is that it has been easier in the past
to charge someone with attempted murder at the state level
than the federal level. The state laws, I believe are better,
and that's why there are a few prosecutions for attempted
murder in federal court. That being said, this is not
an easy case for an attempted murder charge because it
(03:19):
has to not only just prepare and plan, you have
to have a substantial step towards making it happen. And
you know, this guy will have a lot of defenses
because he never fired a shot and it's just not
a slam dunk. I do think the Feds will come
back with additional charges. But I'm not sure that they'll
(03:41):
go as far as attempted murder of Donald Trump now.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And I mean they're saying now that he was there
twelve hours staked out. I mean, doesn't that go a
little bit further to say, you know, obviously the guy
wasn't just trying to get Trump's autograph with you know, oh,
by the way, I've got an AK forty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I mean, that is circumstances. And then on the other hand,
you have to have a substantial step and it's more
than just preparation. You have to you know, preps. If
they can show that the form president was actually in
the sights.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Of this suspect.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
On the other hand, that Trump was three hundred to
five hundred yards away on a different golf hole. So
if the guy says I was a shooting geese, or
you know, I was going to aim for the Secret
Service or someone else, I mean these you know, whenever
you have a potential other explanation that could be reasonable doubt,
reasonable doubt will get you in acquittal. But there is
(04:32):
a strong case at the federal level for I think
an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against the member
of the Secret Service, because according to the secret corner
of the reports, the Secret Service member had the rifle
pointed at him. So that can get you up to
twenty years in prison. And then on top of the
firearm offences, which combined can get you another fifteen years
in prison. We're talking about, just off the top of
(04:55):
our heads here thirty five potential years. Then there's a
federal statute on threatening former president gets.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Up to five years.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So you know, I'm not sure there's a need for
a duplicate state investigation. And plus there's a logistical issue
with this. Joel the governor Santas said that a reason
why he's doing this is because he doesn't trust the
federal government because they're also prosecuting Donald Trump. So, but
guess where they have to get their evidence from. They
have to collect evidence for the state investigation from the
(05:24):
federal government. It's federal investigators. Is that?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And now I heard you. I saw you one another
media outlet yesterday and I saw you reference that. Is
that a fact? Though? I mean whether there were there
were deputies involved too.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Now the Secret Service, you're talking about the deputies who
stopped they can interview the deputies who stop them, but
the Secret Service, so that the federal those are federal
law enforcement officers, you know those. So it's up to
the federal government whether to cooperate with the state, and
they could just say we'll help you, but wait till
our case is over. Of course that could take a
couple of years. It's just it's just never good when
(05:59):
you have turf and you have you have the state
and the Fed, you know, with mistrust with each other.
That doesn't help an investigation.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I want to go back real quick before I forget
to ask the aggravated assault you were referencing to the
Secret Service agent. If if the gun from the suspect
was never fired, is that still potentially aggravated assault.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yes. In fact, agiate assault is just when you point
the gun at someone, if you shoot, that's a different cry.
Then you're talking about, you know, captain murder right there?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
All right? Do you and you reference what he said
is one of the things that he has voice that
he is he does have concerns because you have the
Southern District of Florida, that's uh, you know, obviously prosecuting
the former president. Do you do you feel he has
a reason to be concerned. I know you can't speak
for the federal government, but just in your own you know,
(06:54):
in your own opinion, do you do you feel he's
got a concern there would that be a concern of yours.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I know the members of the FBI and the US
Attorney they have high ethics, and they can do both.
You can show that no one's above the law, where
you prosecute a former president who allegedly took classified documents
and refused to give him back. At the same time,
you can prosecute the person who allegedly tried to assassinate him.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So you can do both.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You just follow the evidence and the laws. And if
you really believe that the only reason why Donald Trump
is being prosecuted is because of politics, and nothing's going
to convince you about the integrity about the federal government,
I mean, there's nothing I could say at that point
that's going to change your mind. You are, obviously you
believe that somehow Merrick Garland is out to get Donald Trump.
(07:42):
This is the same Merrick Garland, by the way, who
appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden and Joe
Biden's son and is prosecuting Joe Biden's son. So you know,
you can try to live in an alternative universe where
somehow the DOJ has been totally politicized, or you can
just believe in reality.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Well, he also I've just played devil's advocate. He also
appointed to prosecute a special prosecutor to investigate the current
president for the document's situation, and according to the papers
that were released, he wasn't prosecuted only because he felt
like he just couldn't hold up in court because he
was essentially I don't remember the words that we're using.
(08:24):
I don't want to use the wrong words, which I
know what I'm referencing.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well, and who was the special prosecutor that Merrick Garland appointed?
Was it a liberal democratic givem a free pass? No,
it was a Trump appointed US attorney who he appointed.
So anyone who believes that Mark Garland somehow is you know,
left wing political hack, doesn't understand reality.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I did back to this case. Did the SANTUS come
to your office and ask, hey, are you going to
prosecute this or not before? Because it looks like he's
essentially going over your head. That is, that's what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, he has every right to conduct an independent state
investigation through the FDL and through attorney General a statewide
prosecutor's office. I used to work for that office previously,
So if they have jurisdiction, they can move ahead with it. Now,
if they don't have jurisdiction, it would come to my office.
(09:18):
But it just depends on some complex jurisdictional requirements. But
if they have it, they can do it, and so
there's no problem there.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
You know, we have concurrent if we have concurrent jurisdiction,
and either office could do it.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
So you don't see this as a move that he's
making based on the fact that you said yesterday, you know,
now leave it to the Feds. Oh well, yeah, we're
going to leave it to the Feds.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
But if any law enforcement office presents us with a
filing packet, a charging the document, will review it and
base our decisions like we always do on the evidence
of the law.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay, so you ultimately could and that's also when your
statement there, But you ultimately could end up actually working
the case.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh it's always possible. But my point is that the
FEDS have taken over the case the investigation, and so
our office is not involved. So my point is that
we were involved in the beginning, and then the Feds
came in, and now we defer to them. They're the
ones handling this. This is a federal matter, and our
office is not involved in that. So the governor then
(10:23):
is going to do a separate investigation using his Florid
Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General's office, and
that's fine. He's allowed to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg
Hey, Joel Malcolm for WJNO dot com in the Florida
News Network. Governor de Santis at the pom Beach County
Sheriff's Office this morning announced that he is issuing an
executive order to appoint a statewide prosecutor to investigate the
second parent attempted assassination a former President Trump, this time
at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.
(00:25):
Pob Beach County State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg had said originally
on Sunday that he may investigated on the state level,
and then had a different answer for that on Monday.
We have the state attorney on the line. Thank you
for coming on with me. Great to be back with you, Jill,
Thanks for having me now. Your office did put out
a statement saying that our office is involvement ended. When
(00:47):
federal prosecutors and investigators took over the case. You also
referenced it you didn't want to have any kind of
a turf for Can you kind of expand on that
a little?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, Pretty normal for the said to come in and
to assume jurisdiction over some of our cases. When they
do so, we defer to them. We stand down generally
that there are a few exceptions, but in general this
is the procedure, especially when it involves an attempted assassination
attempt of a foreign president. When the Feds want to
(01:18):
come in and take over the investigation and the charges,
then we'd let them do so, because you don't want
to have turf for us. I mean that the public
expects us to work together, not to fight each other.
And you know, we're we have a great working relationship
with them, and we defer to them most of the time.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Now, one of the things that the governor referenced today,
he said that the federal government can't file attempted murder
charges against Ruths because Trump is not a sitting president
or president elect. And so he says that only only
the state could do that. And as we sit here speaking,
(01:58):
the suspect is facing two gun charges, and I say
that's it. Obviously. You know, there's twenty years of possible
maximum sentence there worry to be convicted. But you know,
first of all, is that a fact. And as far
as the federal government can't because he's not a federal
(02:20):
I guess employee or whatever, there is a federal statute
that makes it a crime to murder or attempt to
murder a major presidential candidate, and so the question is
whether the Trump campaign whether Trump would qualify under that law,
because there.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Are some hoops to jump through. Now it's clear he
is a major presidential candidate, but the term is defined
in the law. Specifically, there's a committee appointed and a
designation by the Department of Homeland Security. So assuming that happened,
then the federal law would cover it. The one thing
I agree with Governor Santus and a training Gental Moody
(02:58):
on is that it has been easier in the past
to charge someone with attempted murder at the state level
than the federal level. The state laws, I believe are better,
and that's why there are a few prosecutions for attempted
murder in federal court. That being said, this is not
an easy case for an attempted murder charge because it
(03:19):
has to not only just prepare and plan, you have
to have a substantial step towards making it happen. And
you know, this guy will have a lot of defenses
because he never fired a shot and it's just not
a slam dunk. I do think the Feds will come
back with additional charges. But I'm not sure that they'll
(03:41):
go as far as attempted murder of Donald Trump now.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And I mean they're saying now that he was there
twelve hours staked out. I mean, doesn't that go a
little bit further to say, you know, obviously the guy
wasn't just trying to get Trump's autograph with you know, oh,
by the way, I've got an AK forty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I mean, that is circumstances. And then on the other hand,
you have to have a substantial step and it's more
than just preparation. You have to you know, preps. If
they can show that the form president was actually in
the sights.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Of this suspect.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
On the other hand, that Trump was three hundred to
five hundred yards away on a different golf hole. So
if the guy says I was a shooting geese, or
you know, I was going to aim for the Secret
Service or someone else, I mean these you know, whenever
you have a potential other explanation that could be reasonable doubt,
reasonable doubt will get you in acquittal. But there is
(04:32):
a strong case at the federal level for I think
an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against the member
of the Secret Service, because according to the secret corner
of the reports, the Secret Service member had the rifle
pointed at him. So that can get you up to
twenty years in prison. And then on top of the
firearm offences, which combined can get you another fifteen years
in prison. We're talking about, just off the top of
(04:55):
our heads here thirty five potential years. Then there's a
federal statute on threatening former president gets.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Up to five years.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So you know, I'm not sure there's a need for
a duplicate state investigation. And plus there's a logistical issue
with this. Joel the governor Santas said that a reason
why he's doing this is because he doesn't trust the
federal government because they're also prosecuting Donald Trump. So, but
guess where they have to get their evidence from. They
have to collect evidence for the state investigation from the
(05:24):
federal government. It's federal investigators. Is that?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And now I heard you. I saw you one another
media outlet yesterday and I saw you reference that. Is
that a fact? Though? I mean whether there were there
were deputies involved too.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Now the Secret Service, you're talking about the deputies who
stopped they can interview the deputies who stop them, but
the Secret Service, so that the federal those are federal
law enforcement officers, you know those. So it's up to
the federal government whether to cooperate with the state, and
they could just say we'll help you, but wait till
our case is over. Of course that could take a
couple of years. It's just it's just never good when
(05:59):
you have turf and you have you have the state
and the Fed, you know, with mistrust with each other.
That doesn't help an investigation.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I want to go back real quick before I forget
to ask the aggravated assault you were referencing to the
Secret Service agent. If if the gun from the suspect
was never fired, is that still potentially aggravated assault.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yes. In fact, agiate assault is just when you point
the gun at someone, if you shoot, that's a different cry.
Then you're talking about, you know, captain murder right there?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
All right? Do you and you reference what he said
is one of the things that he has voice that
he is he does have concerns because you have the
Southern District of Florida, that's uh, you know, obviously prosecuting
the former president. Do you do you feel he has
a reason to be concerned. I know you can't speak
for the federal government, but just in your own you know,
(06:54):
in your own opinion, do you do you feel he's
got a concern there would that be a concern of yours.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I know the members of the FBI and the US
Attorney they have high ethics, and they can do both.
You can show that no one's above the law, where
you prosecute a former president who allegedly took classified documents
and refused to give him back. At the same time,
you can prosecute the person who allegedly tried to assassinate him.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So you can do both.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You just follow the evidence and the laws. And if
you really believe that the only reason why Donald Trump
is being prosecuted is because of politics, and nothing's going
to convince you about the integrity about the federal government,
I mean, there's nothing I could say at that point
that's going to change your mind. You are, obviously you
believe that somehow Merrick Garland is out to get Donald Trump.
(07:42):
This is the same Merrick Garland, by the way, who
appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden and Joe
Biden's son and is prosecuting Joe Biden's son. So you know,
you can try to live in an alternative universe where
somehow the DOJ has been totally politicized, or you can
just believe in reality.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Well, he also I've just played devil's advocate. He also
appointed to prosecute a special prosecutor to investigate the current
president for the document's situation, and according to the papers
that were released, he wasn't prosecuted only because he felt
like he just couldn't hold up in court because he
was essentially I don't remember the words that we're using.
(08:24):
I don't want to use the wrong words, which I
know what I'm referencing.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well, and who was the special prosecutor that Merrick Garland appointed?
Was it a liberal democratic givem a free pass? No,
it was a Trump appointed US attorney who he appointed.
So anyone who believes that Mark Garland somehow is you know,
left wing political hack, doesn't understand reality.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I did back to this case. Did the SANTUS come
to your office and ask, hey, are you going to
prosecute this or not before? Because it looks like he's
essentially going over your head. That is, that's what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, he has every right to conduct an independent state
investigation through the FDL and through attorney General a statewide
prosecutor's office. I used to work for that office previously,
So if they have jurisdiction, they can move ahead with it. Now,
if they don't have jurisdiction, it would come to my office.
(09:18):
But it just depends on some complex jurisdictional requirements. But
if they have it, they can do it, and so
there's no problem there.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
You know, we have concurrent if we have concurrent jurisdiction,
and either office could do it.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
So you don't see this as a move that he's
making based on the fact that you said yesterday, you know,
now leave it to the Feds. Oh well, yeah, we're
going to leave it to the Feds.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
But if any law enforcement office presents us with a
filing packet, a charging the document, will review it and
base our decisions like we always do on the evidence
of the law.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay, so you ultimately could and that's also when your
statement there, But you ultimately could end up actually working
the case.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh it's always possible. But my point is that the
FEDS have taken over the case the investigation, and so
our office is not involved. So my point is that
we were involved in the beginning, and then the Feds
came in, and now we defer to them. They're the
ones handling this. This is a federal matter, and our
office is not involved in that. So the governor then
(10:23):
is going to do a separate investigation using his Florid
Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General's office, and
that's fine. He's allowed to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg
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