Suspect in shooting at White House Correspondents' Dinner pleads not guilty

WASHINGTON (CN) — Cole Allen, the California man arrested at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Monday.

In addition to the assassination charge, Allen faces three counts of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, transportation of a firearm and ammunition across state lines with the intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted, the 31-year-old faces life in prison.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, presided over Allen’s arraignment, his first opportunity to enter a formal plea after prosecutors first filed a criminal complaint levying three charges before his initial appearance April 27 and a federal grand jury officially indicted him on the assault charge Tuesday.

While Monday’s hearing was largely procedural as the case moves toward discovery, McFadden briefly addressed the defense’s motion to largely disqualify U.S. Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche due to their proximity to the April 25 shooting.

Eugene Ohm, Allen’s appointed federal defender, filed the 14-page motion on Thursday arguing that their status as potential victims, or at least close confidants of Trump as the primary target, renders them unable to make the “unbiased and dispassionate discretionary decisions” necessary as prosecutors.

“There is a fine line between disinterested prosecution and a prosecution stained with apparent conflicts of interest,” Ohm wrote. “Justice and a fair trial require the former. The United States of America’s criminal legal system is worse with the latter.”

The defense specifically requests McFadden disqualify Pirro and Blanche from any direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.

“It is wholly inappropriate for victims of an event like this to be prosecuting this case,” Ohm said Monday.

McFadden seemed doubtful Pirro and Blanche could legally be considered victims, considering no charges against Allen specifically tie his actions to targeting the two, but he suggested the recusal motion raised structural questions as to the two’s influence in their offices’ work.

Ohm noted the Justice Department has indicated it may file additional charges against Allen over targeting of other administration officials — prosecutors say Allen labeled top administration officials, besides FBI Director Kash Patel, in a letter sent April 25 — which would make Blanche and Pirro victims in a legal sense.

McFadden asked Ohm to explain the potential scope of recusal and whether he would need to consider recusing the two prosecutors’ offices as well.

Ohm said the defense would need further information as to Pirro’s direct involvement but would seek the full disqualification of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington.

Ohm said he would also need further information on Blanche’s role but would not seek the full Justice Department’s recusal.

“That would be quite the ask,” McFadden said.

Ohm noted that if Blanche was only involved as a witness and in speaking on behalf of the Justice Department rather than acting in a supervisory role, he would only need to be disqualified as an individual.

McFadden said he would be very surprised if either side called Pirro or Blanche as witnesses at an eventual trial.

He instructed Justice Department attorney Charles Jones to file a reply by May 22 and specifically address whether Pirro’s and Blanche’s offices should be disqualified as well.

“If your boss or your boss’s boss see themselves as a victim, it’d help to know that,” McFadden said.

He also set a status conference for discovery updates for June 29.

Allen was in the courtroom, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, handcuffed and shackled.

The last time Allen appeared at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in downtown Washington, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui apologized for his unexplained placement on suicide watch by the D.C. Department of Corrections, which required his confinement in a padded cell under conditions akin to solitary confinement.

At the May 4 hearing, Faruqui ordered the Department of Corrections to lift those conditions, saying the placement appeared to be solely based on the high-profile nature of his case; provide the defendant a Bible; and inform the court when a final housing decision was due.

In a minute order following Allen’s Tuesday indictment, Faruqui indicated Allen had received the requested Bible, and the Board of Corrections was set to make a housing determination on Wednesday.

Allen’s case was assigned to McFadden on Tuesday and he has not yet indicated any further change in Allen’s detention conditions.

Follow @Ryan_Knappy