DoJ pressures group to drop lawsuit against Trump’s ballroom after gala shooting | White House correspondents’ dinner shooting
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) used the weekend shooting in Washington, DC, to pressure a watchdog group to drop a lawsuit seeking to stop construction of Donald Trump’s White House ballroom.
Several Trump administration officials, including the president, seized on the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, arguing that the new ballroom was needed as a “safe space” to advance their case for completing the controversial $400 million project that saw the East Wing of the White House suddenly demolished.
On Sunday night, acting attorney general Todd Blanche posted on social media. a letter He called the foundation’s lawsuit against attorneys representing the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) “frivolous.” The organization was asked to withdraw this voluntarily or face a new impeachment request from the Department of Justice (DoJ).
“Simply put, your case puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at great risk,” said the letter, signed by Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s civil division.
“I hope yesterday’s narrow miss helps you finally understand how ridiculous a lawsuit is that serves no purpose other than stopping President Trump, no matter the cost.”
Shumate said the White House ballroom was “vital to the safety of the president, his family, his cabinet and his staff,” and claimed that the Washington Hilton, where Saturday’s attack took place, is currently the only ballroom in the capital large enough to host such large meetings and is “obviously unsafe.”
The letter reflected an allegation Posted by Trump On Sunday on the Truth Social network, the President insisted that security agencies and “every President for the last 150 years have demanded that a large, safe and secure ballroom be built on the grounds of the White House.”
“It’s time to build the ballroom,” Blanche wrote about X in a repost of Shumate’s letter.
Trump’s search for a new ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House, which he demolished last year, has followed a difficult legal path in recent weeks.
In March, district court judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the nonprofit foundation; This demand claimed that Trump had exceeded his authority by razing the East Wing and beginning ballroom construction without the necessary congressional approval.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington DC Circuit decided earlier this month to postpone Leon’s decision, allowing construction to continue while the case is pending.
The board said the decision “should in no way be construed as a decision on the merits of this motion”; This means that the future of the entire project for the 1,000-seat ballroom, located on a site larger than the White House itself, remains in jeopardy. The next hearing of the case will tentatively be held on June 5.
Shumate’s letter stated that he would meet with the foundation’s lawyers on Monday “to discuss ending this unnecessary and dangerous lawsuit.”
The Guardian has contacted NTHP for comment. Inside a statement Following the appeals panel’s April 11 decision allowing construction to continue, the foundation said on its website that it planned to pursue its case.
“The National Trust remains committed to honoring the historic significance of the White House, defending our collective role as stewards, and demonstrating how broad consultation, including with the American people, ensures a better overall outcome,” he said.
