Attorneys for the man charged in a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner are asking a judge to disqualify two high-profile government officials from participating in the case.
Lawyers for Cole Allen say U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should be barred from involvement because they attended the dinner.
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The motion cites a remark from FBI Director Kash Patel, who said in the aftermath, “It hits a little differently. We were all there.”
Allen’s attorneys argue that being both victims and witnesses to the event is disqualifying for the officials.
Authorities say Allen reserved a room at the Washington Hilton on April 6 and traveled by train from California to Chicago, then on to Washington in the days leading up to the dinner. He checked into the hotel April 25, the day before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Surveillance video from the night of the dinner shows Allen running past a security checkpoint before being tackled short of the ballroom, where more than 2,000 guests, including Donald Trump and members of the Cabinet in the line of succession, were gathered.
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One officer was shot in their bulletproof vest during the incident and was not seriously injured. Everyone else was safely evacuated from the building.
Investigators say Allen left behind a manifesto expressing a desire to target senior Trump administration officials.
Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate the president, along with other serious offenses. He has not yet entered a plea.
