Correspondents’ dinner attack suspect asks judge to disqualify top DOJ officials

In a court filing late Thursday, assistant federal public defenders Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe argued that Blanche and Pirro were inside the Washington Hilton ballroom on April 25 when Allen allegedly drove through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.

Both officials heard gunshots, the lawyers wrote, and “presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants.” They were quickly evacuated and later learned that authorities believed the attack had targeted certain administration officials.

The defense urged U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche, and possibly other Justice Department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution. The lawyers suggested that appointing a special prosecutor “might be warranted” to avoid the appearance of a conflict.

“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?” Ohm and Abe wrote in the filing.

Pirro said her office would respond to the defense arguments in its own court document. In a separate statement, 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.”

Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges handed up Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Washington. The indictment charges him with attempting to assassinate President Trump, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, and two additional firearms counts. Conviction on the attempted assassination charge alone carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The Secret Service officer who was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest fired his own weapon five times without hitting anyone. Allen was injured but was not shot, according to the Associated Press.

Both Blanche and Pirro have ties to Trump. Blanche served as one of Trump’s personal attorneys before joining the Justice Department last year. Pirro is a longtime friend of the president. McFadden was named to the federal bench during Trump’s first term.