Accused Donald Trump assassin pleads not guilty to all charges
The man accused of attempting to kill US President Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents' Dinner last month has pleaded not guilty to the four charges he faces.
Prosecutors say Cole Tomas Allen stormed through a security checkpoint at the hotel where the annual press dinner was being held while the president and top government officials were on a different floor.
Allen appeared before a federal judge in Washington, DC, on Monday (Tuesday AEST), hands and feet shackled together and stood by his lawyer as they entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.
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This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, seated centre, the California man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, during, a federal court hearing on Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren via AP) AP
US Secret Service agents respond during the alleged White House Correspondents Dinner shooting. AP
He has been indicted on charges including attempting to assassinate a president and assaulting an officer.
The judge presiding over the case, Trump-appointed Trevor McFadden, pressed Allen's lawyers on an earlier motion they had made seeking to remove US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro and other administration officials from the case.
Allen's legal team argued that because Pirro and others were at the April 25 dinner and may have been targets according to their version of events, she should be recused from the case.
"We assume a lot about how victims feel," defence lawyer Eugene Ohm said during Monday's hearing, adding that Pirro is "very close friends with Trump" and should be removed for that alone.
"I'd be very surprised if they were victims in any legal sense," McFadden said, noting that they did not see the incident.
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US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. AP
Ohm said he wanted more information on how Pirro's office, which is prosecuting Allen, is structured in order to determine if the entire office should also be recused.
"It's likely we will be asking for the entire office" to be removed from the case, Ohm said, adding that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should also be recused because of his presence at the dinner.
The next hearing in the case is set for June 29.
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