WASHINGTON (AP) — A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top Justice Department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the April 25 event at the Washington Hilton when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
In a court filing late Thursday, Allen's attorneys argued that it creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder — how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.
Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen's case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other Justice Department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.
“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.
Pirro said her office will respond to the defense lawyers' arguments in its own court filing.
“We 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,” Pirro said in a statement.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.
The charges include attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the Justice Department last year.
Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro's office.
Allen also is charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge alone.
The Secret Service officer who was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest fired his own weapon five times without hitting anybody. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was injured but was not shot.
From left, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, speak during a news conference at the Department of Justice, on Monday April 27, 2026, in Washington, following the initial appearance in federal court of the suspected White House Correspondents Dinner gunman, Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, seated center, the California man arrested in the shooting incident at the correspondents dinner in Washington, seen appearing before U.S. Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya, in federal court, Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
This courtroom sketch depicts Cole Tomas Allen, center, listening as his attorney Eugene Ohm, left, speaks to U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, Monday, May 4, 2026, in Washington, as Tony Towns, the acting general counsel for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, listens at right. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (AP) — A California sheriff said Friday that evidence suggests human remains were present at a home connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college student who went missing in 1996.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said they cannot say whether the remains are those of Smart.
The office served a search warrant Wednesday on the home of Susan Flores, whose son Paul Flores was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart. Authorities have not answered questions about what prompted the search, but scientists specializing in human decomposition and soil took samples from the ground.
“We believe that based on what we’re looking at evidence-wise -- scientific-wise -- that a human’s remains were there at one time -- or still there. We can’t call it Kristin, but there’s evidence to support human remains,” Parkinson said during a news conference.
Tim Nelligan, an expert in soil vapor testing, confirmed by phone Thursday that he was on the premises, gathering samples from the yards of Flores and a neighbor. He said his team has, in general, “come up with a methodology to assess soil vapor" and its relation to “human cadaver decomposition,” but that he could not discuss the current investigation.
Smart went missing from California Polytechnic State University in May 1996 after returning from an off-campus party. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape and that the last person she was seen with was Paul Flores, a fellow student. She was declared legally dead in 2002.
The decades-old case has captivated the public, fueled in part by a podcaster who helped investigators by bringing forward additional witnesses. Chris Lambert of the “Your Own Backyard” podcast first reported the search of the home in the central coast town of Arroyo Grande, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.
Attempts to reach Susan Flores for comment Wednesday and Thursday were not successful. She has never faced criminal charges related to the case.
Nelligan and other scientists poked instruments into the soil and pulled up long tubing. Soil vapor sampling, which is an evolving science, involves collecting underground gas samples to detect volatile organic compounds associated with human decomposition.
Lambert, the podcaster, said he did not know much about the search, but was optimistic investigators could locate Smart's body. He said past searches of Susan Flores' home have never been thorough.
“This property in particular has been overlooked for quite some time," he said Thursday in front of the house.
Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested in 2021.
Prosecutors alleged Smart’s remains were buried on Ruben Flores’ property and later moved. He was acquitted of accessory charges. That property is different from the one currently being searched.
Paul Flores was sentenced in March 2023 to prison, where he has been physically attacked at least twice. In 2024, a judge ruled that he must pay just over $350,000 to Smart's family for costs they incurred after her death.
The family has said it would forgo restitution if Flores would tell them where the woman's body was. Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, said in 2024 that the defense did not know where her remains are. Flores maintains his innocence.
FILE - Paul Flores listens during his murder trial in Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas, Calif., on July 18, 2022. (Daniel Dreifuss/Monterey County Weekly via AP, Pool, File)
This photo provided by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office shows authorities conducting a search on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at a home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart. (San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FILE - This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart, the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996. (FBI via AP, File)
Scientists take samples from the soil Thursday, May 7, 2026, from the neighboring yard of a home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart as part of a sheriff's investigation. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) CORRECTION: Corrects from authorities to scientists
Scientists take samples from the soil Thursday, May 7, 2026, from the front yard of a home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart as part of a sheriff's investigation. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) CORRECTION: Corrects from authorities to scientists
Scientists take samples from the soil Thursday, May 7, 2026, from the neighboring yard of a home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart as part of a sheriff's investigation. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) CORRECTION: Corrects from authorities to scientists
