White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen pleads not guilty

Cole Allen, the accused White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him through his attorney Monday.

Allen, who appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and was shackled at the wrists and feet, is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two gun counts. 

His attorneys are moving to disqualify all the U.S. attorneys in the Washington, D.C., office from the case, including its top prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, because of their status as “purported victims and witnesses in this case,” they argued in a motion last week. Pirro is a longtime friend of Mr. Trump’s, and Allen’s attorneys said she has “referenced her status as a potential victim” in media appearances in which she talked about her experience in the ballroom, including one CNN interview in which Pirro said she was “in that combat zone.”

In court, Eugene Ohm, a public defender representing Allen, said his legal team would “need a little bit more information” from the government about whether charges could be brought forward citing Pirro or Blanche as victims of Allen. Ohm said that because the two have presented themselves as victims of the attack in public statements, it would be “wholly inappropriate” for the pair to be directing the prosecution of this case.

Allen’s attorneys are also trying to remove Attorney General Todd Blanche from the case.

The Justice Department was directed to respond to the motion by June 22, and Allen’s legal team will have five days after the department’s filing to respond.