CBS News Admits to Being in Touch with Ryan Routh over a Year During the Early Stages of the War in Ukraine

WILLIAMS: “Ryan Routh was the suspect in an alleged assassination attempt on former President Trump. I immediately recognized the name because I had been in touch with Ryan Routh for over a year in the early stages of the war in Ukraine. Like thousands of other international volunteers, he apparently went to Ukraine to help. I don’t believe that he was fighting himself, but he had put up signs in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, offering to help other foreigners find places in Ukrainian battalions. And that’s how I initially came across him. I spoke with him, I think, once on the phone and texted frequently, and he put me in touch with several foreign fighters. Now, he seemed very genuine and passionate about supporting Ukraine. He mentioned plans to bring in thousands of Afghan and Syrian fighters, which I took, frankly, with a grain of salt. In an interview with the news website Semafor, he claimed he’d been unable to get visas for Afghan fighters, but we don’t know if he was actually in touch with any Ukrainian officials at all. Now, I’ve met American volunteers everywhere from Syria to Ukraine. Some are experienced soldiers and clear about the dangers they’re facing, but others seem less well informed and their motivations can be quite confused. To be honest, Ryan Routh did at seem — at times seemed fairly naive. At one point he sent me an audio track of a song he’d apparently recorded about the carnage caused by the war in Ukraine. In November of last year, he told me he was back in the U.S. in Hawaii, and that was the last time I heard from him. Anne-Marie?”

GREEN: “Wow, Holly. Fascinating. Thank you very much.”