Talk of the Town
(WASHINGTON) — In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Colorado’s ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors as a violation of counselors’ free speech rights under the First Amendment.
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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a request to impose a preliminary injunction that would have blocked construction of the White House ballroom.
While finding that the National Trust has raised “novel and weighty” arguments against the ballroom construction, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, says he does not have the power to halt it under the arguments the group has raised.
Leon’s ruling suggests an amended complaint by the historic preservationists, raising so-called ultra vires claims — effectively, that Trump has operated outside the law — would be a better basis for a cause of action.
“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds,” Leon said.
A statement from the National Trust expresses disappointment over the judge’s decision but adds that the group is “pleased” that Leon encouraged the organization to file an amended complaint claiming that Trump has acted beyond his legal authority. The group says it will do so “promptly.”
Leon pledged to “expeditiously consider” an amended complaint from the National Trust raising ultra vires claims. But until one is filed, he wrote he has “no choice but to deny” the group’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Not long after, Trump falsely claimed that a federal judge “completely erased” a lawsuit seeking to stop the construction of the White House ballroom.
“Great news for America, and our wonderful White House! The Judge on the case of what will be the most beautiful Ballroom anywhere in the World, has just thrown out, and completely erased, the effort to stop its construction,” Trump wrote in the post on Truth Social.
The president then continued to claim that “not one dollar” of taxpayers’ money is being used and that the project was “ahead of schedule, and under budget.”
At a hearing last month, the judge aired his sharp skepticism about what he called a “Rube Goldberg contraption” of raising private money to fund the ballroom construction, adding he believed it was designed to avoid congressional oversight.
The Trump administration preemptively asked Leon in early February to stay any injunction he might issue, warning that the project is “imperative for reasons of national security.”
The government’s filing also says halting the construction would “leave an unsightly excavation site in President’s Park indefinitely.”
Trump initially said in July that the $400 million ballroom project would not interfere with the existing White House structure. Later, when crews began tearing down the East Wing, an official said the “entirety of the East Wing will be modernized” as the massive 90,000 square foot ballroom is built.
Earlier in February, the Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve Trump’s design plan.
The panel, made up entirely of new members appointed by Trump, did so near unanimously without further review over the “vast, vast majority” of public comments opposing the project.
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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department released more images of alleged White House correspondents’ dinner attack suspect Cole Allen just moments before the attack, and also laid out his alleged pre-attack plans in a new court filing on Wednesday.
Investigators said that Allen was observed by agents at the security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton “fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom.”
The court filing also gives the clearest description yet of what happened in the seconds during Allen’s alleged charging of the room.
“The USSS officer and others at the checkpoint heard the gunshot,” according to the court filing. “The USSS officer drew his service weapon and fired five times at the defendant. The defendant fell to the ground, was restrained by law enforcement, and was placed under arrest.”
Allen also allegedly wrote his assessments of the hotel’s security when he arrived at the Hilton.
“He wrote that he ‘walk[ed] in with multiple weapons and not a single person there [at the hotel] considers the possibility that I could be a threat,'” the court filing said.
According to the court filing, the defendant went on to complain that, “if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce2 in here and no one would have noticed s—.”
Authorities also outlined in further detail Allen’s alleged pre-attack plans, saying that it was something that was planned out before he arrived in Washington.
He allegedly searched for the White House correspondents’ dinner and events leading up to it. He booked his room for the Washington Hilton in early April, authorities said.
“The defendant also kept a running note on his phone of his observations and thoughts during his cross-country train journey,” according to the filing.
During the day of the dinner, Allen allegedly left his room multiple times and at points accessed a webpage that tracks the president’s schedule, the filing said.
Before he left his hotel room to allegedly carry out the attack, Allen took a photo of himself strapped up with his arsenal. The photo, included in the court filing, shows him with a black shirt, red tie and knives and weapons attached to his person and in his bag.
He then allegedly visited the presidential schedule tracking page minutes before the attack, and attempted to watch the president’s arrival at the dinner. He also sent his email outlining his plans, and then allegedly carried out his attack, according to the filing.
Authorities also say in the filing, that when they searched his room at the Hilton, they found two additional knives, a magazine with 10 rounds of ammunition, two boxes each containing 10 rounds of shotgun ammunition, a half-facepiece respirator, a roll of duct tape and two rolls of grip tape.
In Allen’s bedroom in Torrence, California, law enforcement recovered two long gun bags, a Mossberg buttstock, a pistol holster, a training pistol, and shotgun ammunition, along with several electronic devices, the filing said.
Allen is scheduled to be in court Thursday.
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(WASHINGTON) — Michael Banks, the head of U.S. Border Patrol, is stepping down, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott confirmed on Thursday.
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