Cole Tomas Allen said nothing.
Handcuffed, shackled, dressed in an orange jail uniform, the 31-year-old from Torrance, California, stood before a federal judge Monday morning and let his lawyer speak for him.
The plea was not guilty. The charge: attempted assassination of the President of the United States.
Allen is accused of breaching a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25, armed with guns and knives, and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who moved to stop him. The officer — struck once in a bullet-resistant vest — survived. Allen was injured in the confrontation but was not shot. The attack ended one of Washington’s most storied annual rituals early.
Now the legal fight turns not only to what Allen did, but to who can prosecute him for it.
His attorneys are asking U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to disqualify at least two senior Justice Department officials from direct involvement in the case: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, both of whom were present at the Washington Hilton when the shooting occurred.
Defense attorney Eugene Ohm signaled the motion could go further — potentially seeking to remove Pirro’s entire office on conflict-of-interest grounds, given that its members could be considered witnesses or victims.
It is an extraordinary legal posture in an already extraordinary case. Allen faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on the attempted assassination count alone. He is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms offenses.
He is due back in court June 29.
