Defense Demands Recusal of U.S. Attorney Pirro, Attorney General Blanche as Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooter Pleads Not Guilty

The defense team representing the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is demanding the recusal of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, citing a conflict of interest because she is friends with the target of the alleged attack.The move comes as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, formally pleaded not guilty in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Monday morning.Mr. Allen faces four primary charges stemming from the April 25 shooting at the Washington Hilton: attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, transporting a firearm across state lines, and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. According to authorities, Mr. Allen allegedly breached a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun, striking a Secret Service agent in his bullet-resistant vest before being subdued.During Monday’s hearing, Mr. Allen appeared in an orange jumpsuit with shackled arms and legs before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden. While the plea was a central focus, the impending legal battle over who will prosecute the case took center stage.Mr. Allen’s public defenders, Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe, argue that both Ms. Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should be disqualified from the prosecution. Both officials were in attendance at the black-tie gala when the shooting occurred.In a court filing late Thursday, the defense highlighted the alleged impropriety. “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.The defense further questioned Ms. Pirro’s impartiality due to her well-documented ties to the president: “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.”The defense attorneys vividly described the officials’ proximity to the danger, writing: “Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials.”Mr. Ohm informed Judge McFadden that he intends to seek the removal of Ms. Pirro’s “entire office” due to a “structural appearance of impropriety” given her “supervisory” role over the case. “It’s wholly inappropriate,” Mr. Ohm said, for Ms. Pirro or Mr. Blanche to “be making the primary prosecutorial decisions in the case.”Judge McFadden pushed back slightly on the broad scope of the request. After confirming that the defense might seek to disqualify the entire local federal prosecutor’s office, the judge remarked to Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones that it “sounds like you’d be out too.” When Mr. Ohm suggested he would not ask to disqualify the entire Justice Department, Judge McFadden said, “That would be quite a request.”Ms. Pirro addressed the defense’s efforts in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday. “We will evaluate the motion and respond in court,” she said. “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.”A status conference for the case is scheduled for June 29. If convicted, Mr. Allen faces up to life in prison.

Defense Demands Recusal of U.S. Attorney Pirro, Attorney General Blanche as Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooter Pleads Not Guilty

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