WHCA Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen pleads not guilty, judge scoffs at defense’s power play
The man accused of attempting to kill President Donald Trump on April 25 at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner entered a plea in a Washington, D.C., federal court Monday morning to four charges related to the alleged crime.
Cole Allen, who was shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, transporting a firearm across state lines and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.
More charges are possible the 31-year-old Torrance, California, resident, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
But Allen's defense attorneys want Pirro and her office removed from the case, citing a "conflict of interest" stemming from the fact that Pirro was a victim of their client's alleged crime, they said in a court filing on Friday. They also cited Pirro's personal friendship with Trump.
They asked the same of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was also in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton when shots rang out.
"As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder—how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?" the motion asks. "Or even—how can one of the victim’s closest friends prosecute the alleged perpetrator of the offense? Given U.S. Attorney Pirro’s friendship with the President and her and Acting A.G. Blanche’s attendance at the event at the center of this prosecution, the law necessitates their disqualification."
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Pirro responded to the move on Friday.
"We will evaluate the motion and respond in court," she told Fox News Digital. "We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law."
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Eugene Ohm, Allen's public defender, told Judge Trevor McFadden on Monday that it's likely they would ask for Pirro's entire office to be taken off the case.
However, Ohm said it was unlikely they would ask for the entire Department of Justice to be forced off the case as part of the Blanche request.
"That would be quite a request," McFadden said.
Allen is scheduled to return to court for a status conference on June 29 at 10:30 a.m.