
Cole Allen, the 31-year-old man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on April 25, shuffled into a federal courtroom in an orange jumpsuit and shackles on Monday and pleaded not guilty to four federal counts — and his defense strategy was so absurd that the judge openly mocked it on the record.
You know your legal team is off to a great start when the presiding judge laughs at your motion before the ink is dry.
Allen, from Torrance, California, is facing attempted assassination of the President, discharging a firearm during a violent crime, transporting a firearm across state lines, and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Those are the kinds of charges that don't exactly scream "easy plea deal." But his public defender, Eugene Ohm, apparently decided the best play was to argue that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro — a close ally of President Trump — shouldn't be allowed to prosecute the case because of her relationship with the victim.
The defense motion actually asked the court: "How can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them? Or even, how can one of the victim's closest friends prosecute the alleged perpetrator?"
Judge Trevor McFadden's response? "That would be quite a request."
That's judge-speak for "you can't be serious." And honestly, we're all thinking it. This man allegedly opened fire at the Washington Hilton during one of the most high-profile events in Washington, and his legal team's opening gambit is a procedural Hail Mary about who gets to file the paperwork against him. Bold strategy.
Pirro, for her part, wasn't playing around. She made it crystal clear where the Department of Justice stands, stating that her office "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."
No ambiguity there. No hand-wringing about root causes or "what drove him to this." Just: you tried to kill the President, and we're coming for you with everything we've got. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is overseeing the broader prosecution effort, and there's zero indication anyone in this administration is going to go soft.
The next court date is set for June 29, which gives Allen's defense team about seven weeks to come up with something better than "the prosecutor is too close to the guy we allegedly tried to murder." Good luck with that one.
Here's what gets me. We had a man travel across state lines with a firearm, show up at a black-tie dinner, and allegedly attempt to assassinate a sitting President of the United States. And the best his lawyer can do is whine about Jeanine Pirro's friendship with Trump. That's not a legal defense — that's a confession that you've got nothing.
Even the judge couldn't pretend it was a serious argument. When the bench is smirking at your motion, you're not building a case — you're building a punchline.
As reported by LifeZette, Allen stood in that courtroom in shackles and entered his not guilty plea while his defense team tried to turn a slam-dunk prosecution into a recusal fight. It didn't work. It was never going to work.
Four federal charges. A judge who's clearly unimpressed. A DOJ that's promising the full weight of the law. And a defense attorney whose best idea got laughed out of the room before the arraignment was even over.
We'll see what June 29 brings. But if this is the preview, the trial is going to be very short and very satisfying.


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