Mid-Day Update： September 17, 2024
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Summary
New details out about the would-be Trump assassin. New details emerge about the FBI, Interpol, and Customs and Border Protection were warned about Ryan Wesley Ruth months before the assassination attempt on Sunday, when the Secret Service spotted Ruth with a rifle about 400 yards away from the former president.
Transcript
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Hello everybody, I'm John Fawcett with this Great America Show midday update for Tuesday,
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September 17th. New details out about the would-be Trump assassin. The FBI, Interpol,
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and Customs and Border Protection were warned about the former President Donald Trump's second
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alleged assassin, Ryan Wesley Ruth, months before the assassination attempt on Sunday,
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when the Secret Service spotted Ruth with a rifle about 400 yards away from the former president.
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The lack of preventative measures against Ruth caused some political pundits to speculate
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that the federal agencies engaged in willful negligence while protecting President Trump.
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Chelsea Walsh, a nurse who had several encounters with Ruth in Kiev, Ukraine,
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alerted authorities to Ruth's threats of violence multiple times, she told the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
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In June of 22, she conveyed her concerns to a Customs and Border Protection agent
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in an hours-long interview at Washington Dulles Airport, noting that Ruth was among the most
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dangerous Americans she had met during her month-and-a-half-long stint in Ukraine.
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Again, in 2023, Walsh alerted the FBI and Interpol about Ruth, but she did not hear back
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from the FBI, of course. When she heard in 2023 that Ruth was attempting to recruit Syrian refugees
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to fight in Ukraine, she filed an online report with the FBI and Interpol outlining her concerns
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about Ruth and others. She says she never heard back from neither the FBI or Customs and Border
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Protection. Ruth's behavior had been flagged to the FBI in the past, though not connected to Ukraine.
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A tipster told the FBI in 2019 that Ruth had a firearm despite being a felon,
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but when questioned further, wouldn't verify providing the information, an FBI official said
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on Monday. The Bureau passed the information on to the authorities in Honolulu, Hawaii,
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where Ruth was living at the time, and closed the investigation.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced an executive order assigning the attempted assassination
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case to the office of the statewide prosecutor. DeSantis says it's not in the best interest to have
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the same federal agencies seeking the prosecution of Donald Trump leading this investigation.
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In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal
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agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially
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when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law,
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but not federal law. In addition to holding the suspect accountable, the public deserves to know
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the truth about how this assassination came to be. And I've directed all state agencies to work
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expeditiously to be able to uncover the truth in addition to holding this suspect accountable.
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Great on Governor DeSantis for ensuring a proper, uncorrupted investigation will happen in Florida,
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unlike the one in Pennsylvania. Be sure to join us for today's episode of The Great America Show.
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We're joined by Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. We take up the latest on the spending
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fight and much more. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at JohnFawcettNY and on Truth Social
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at John Fawcett, and join us each and every weekday for The Great America Show.
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I'm John Fawcett with this midday update. Have a great day, folks.