Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday he is signing an executive order authorizing a state investigation into the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Sunday in West Palm Beach.

During a news conference in West Palm Beach, DeSantis said the state — and not the Justice Department — has the jurisdiction to potentially file an attempted-murder charge against the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh. The governor also sought to cast doubt on the objectivity of federal investigators when it comes to Trump.

“In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said federal law prevents the Justice Department from prosecuting an attempted-murder case when the target is not a current federal official or president-elect. 

The FBI is conducting its own investigation. Federal prosecutors charged Routh, 58, on Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The Justice Department could bring additional charges. Routh has not yet been arraigned.

“To say you're going to do a couple gun charges, that is not going to be sufficient to” hold the suspect accountable, DeSantis said.

The governor added that he believes the offense warrants a sentence of life in prison.

Florida’s investigation will be led by the attorney general’s Office of Statewide Prosecution. 

“Sometimes states have the ability and the jurisdiction to bring charges and go after maximum penalties that maybe the federal government does not,” state Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “And that doesn't mean it's a turf war. … It is very common for state investigators, state prosecutors to work with our federal prosecutors and federal agents on dual tracks with different purposes.”

Moody said investigators will look into “what happened when something went terribly wrong.” She cited law enforcement accounts that Routh was near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach for 12 hours before a Secret Service agent spotted his AK-style rifle in the shrubbery surrounding the course as Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, played 300 to 500 yards away.

The agent opened fire on the suspect, who fled in a vehicle before being arrested during a highway stop shortly later.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to lead two federal criminal investigations into Trump: one in Florida in which the former president is accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and another in Washington, D.C., over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases. A judge dismissed the Florida case in July, but Smith’s office is appealing the ruling.

“It was Merrick Garland who assigned a special counsel because he said there was a political issue and they wanted to appear to be above it,” DeSantis said. “… If you did a special counsel for that, wouldn't those same concerns animate whether you're the appropriate jurisdiction” to investigate the apparent assassination attempt? 

“And yes, I do think that there's a lot of concern about how these agencies have operated,” the governor continued. “And state of Florida, I mean, for us, all we’re interested in is the truth.”

DeSantis vowed that the state’s inquiry would be transparent. He also argued that federal investigations into the first assassination attempt on Trump in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 have left too many questions unanswered. 

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Spectrum News.