Following the shooting, DOJ requests that the court dismiss the White House ballroom case.
Citing the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Monday that the Justice Department has requested a court to drop a lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit has put the completion of the $400 million ballroom, which has been under construction since early October, in jeopardy, leaving a construction site where the White House’s East Wing previously stood.
Following the arrest of an armed man at the annual charity dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, a federal and Republican push for its completion has accelerated. Lawmakers and White House officials assert that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is a security imperative.
Blanche said the department formally asked the court that morning to dismiss the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s case during a news conference on Monday announcing charges related to the meal against Cole Tomas Allen, including a charge of trying to assassinate the president.
