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Maybe the Secret Service can use more help. No one doubts that the Ukrainians do, though. They’re already outnumbered by invading Russian forces, and Moscow has ordered a large expansion to attempt to end the war on their own terms. The Ukrainians have tried to recruit practically anyone who would carry a weapon to come to their defense.

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Practically anyone. They do draw the line at bat**** crazy, however, and that includes one Ryan Wesley Routh:

Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, Routh has periodically contacted the international legion with what Shahuri described as “nonsensical ideas.” His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”

Shahuri, speaking to The Associated Press, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.

So could Routh be setting up an insanity defense? His demeanor in court might suggest that he’s not quite cognizant of the legal peril he faces. Of course, that could be a leftover of having served no prison time for previous firearms offenses, but YMMV if you’re an attorney representing someone caught red-handed setting up a sniper position for an ambush:

The suspect in the second assassination attempt on former President Trump laughed and smiled ahead of his first court appearance in Florida on Monday. 

Ryan Wesley Routh, wearing jail scrubs and shackles on his wrists and ankles, walked into court and smiled and laughed about three to four times as he was speaking to his court-appointed attorney before the hearing began, Fox News observed.

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Twitchy has links to some of his nuttier social media postings too, many of which have now been locked down after his arrest. More may come out in the days ahead anyway, so stay tuned, but … good luck with an insanity defense, if that’s what Routh has planned. He might be delusional and he’s clearly an extremist, but that’s not even close to what an insanity defense means in federal court or in most states. 

To win an insanity defense, a defendant has to show a mental incapacity so profound that he or she could not distinguish right from wrong and therefore could not form a mens rea to violate the law. It used to be called the M’Naghten Rule and still forms the basic hurdle for insanity defenses. Routh will have a few problems with this, though, because flight and concealment generally demonstrate that the defendant knew he was committing a crime.

Hiding in the bushes? Problem. Running from the scene? Problem. The rifle also had the serial number partially obliterated, which also shows an intent to conceal the act from law enforcement. Problem. 

Lurking for 12 hours while concealed in the sniper nest? That may be a problem, too:

The suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump may have been lurking near the Republican presidential nominee’s West Palm Beach golf course for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent spotted him, according to a criminal complaint. …

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Routh’s cellphone dated tracked him near the tree line of Trump International Golf Club as early as 1:59 a.m. on Sunday.

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That’s not legal insanity. It might be an insane form of commitment to the mission, but it shows planning, purpose, and arguably intent. Or maybe they will claim that Routh was just camping  …. with a gun poking out of the bushes. Right now, the charges don’t include an allegation of an assassination attempt, but rather just two firearms violations:

A bag containing food was also found at the scene, Thomas said, underscoring the possibility that Routh camped out for a while in the shrubbery surrounding the golf course.

Routh appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach for a brief hearing Monday morning wearing a blue jail jumpsuit. A magistrate judge formally advised him of the criminal charges against him at the moment: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, court records show.

While the FBI said Sunday that they were investigating the event as an apparent assassination attempt, the initial criminal counts against Routh were limited to the gun charges and did not include a specific charge of attempted assassination or any violent offense.

The complaint issued against Routh said law enforcement recovered an SKS-style, 7.62×39 caliber rifle and scope from the scene at the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Course. The serial number “was unreadable to the naked eye,” Thomas wrote.

These look like placeholders until the DoJ can build the larger case — assuming they can. For that, though, prosecutors have to get a grand jury to craft the indictment. That will likely come soon, unless Routh and his attorney negotiate a plea deal. I suspect, however, that the US Attorney won’t be too anxious to cut a deal, not for a second assassination attempt on the same candidate in two months — and not while a deluge of criticism falls on the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security. 

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Fox News followed up with Tanya Lukyanova this afternoon, the Semafor/Free Press reporter that interviewed Routh last year. She early called him crazy, and in this clip, said it felt like a scene from a Coen Brothers movie. “Off” is not “insane,” though, not in terms of legal defenses.

Update: The Daily Wire reports that Routh wrote and self-published a book calling for Iran to murder Trump:

In his book, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,” Routh expressed solidarity with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, saying that he wanted “to be protesting in those streets against US sanctions.”

“I would like to celebrate the amazing work of John Kerry that very humbly and humanly handled the Iran deal which elated me and the whole of the world,” he wrote. “I must take part of the blame for the retarded child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless, but I am man enough to say that I misjudged and made a terrible mistake and Iran I apologize.”

“You are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal,” he continued. “No one here in the US seems to have the balls to put natural selection to work or even unnatural selection.”

I’d say that goes a long way toward motive and against an insanity defense. It does raise the possibility that Routh worked with a foreign government or organization to accomplish this mission, too. But Occam’s Razor probably applies — he might have just gotten tired of waiting for Iran to get it done and tried to DIY it. 

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