U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro gave an update on the investigation into Cole Tomas Allen — who opened fire one week earlier at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — and said that it was clear the would-be assassin had an inflated sense of his own capabilities.
Pirro, the U.S. Attorney assigned to Washington, D.C., spoke with CNN’s Jake Tapper about the ongoing investigation in Allen’s actions and motives — and she described the shooter’s actions leading up to the moment he charged a security checkpoint manned by the United States Secret Service.
Tapper began by asking Pirro — who was in attendance at the dinner herself — whether the fact that she could have been a potential target meant that she should recuse herself from the case entirely. Pirro was adamant that the two things were unconnected.
“Absolutely not. I mean, there is no way … my ability to prosecute this case has nothing to do with my being there,” she said.
TAPPER: “Has it been suggested to you, at any point, by anyone that maybe you need to recuse yourself because you were both a witness and a potential target?”
JEANINE PIRRO: “Absolutely not. I mean, there is no way… my ability to prosecute this case has nothing to do with my… pic.twitter.com/clLO5SJ9DA— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) May 3, 2026
Pirro went on to address Allen’s behavior and actions leading up to the assassination attempt, much of which was either recovered from his personal effects or captured by security cameras at the Washington Hilton.
“Clearly, the president is a target. And make no mistake, it is not just the manifesto. It is his actions,” Pirro said of the suspect, who referred to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin” throughout the manifesto he sent to family. “I mean, this guy thought he was Rambo.”
“And he takes a picture of himself. He is smug, he is proud, and he is focused on what he’s doing,” Pirro added.
“I think if you read the manifesto … it is very clear who the intended target is. It is very clear, based upon the fact that as soon as this president said that he was going to be at the Hilton for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on March 2nd, [Allen] then made the decision to hatch the plan,” Pirro told Tapper, adding, “I can tell you, we will be able to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.”
She went on to say that the defense might have a difficult time if they opted to go for an affirmative defense and claim that Allen was insane: “The one issue that people might think about is, is he insane. He is far from insane. He is brilliant. He has a master’s degree. He work[ed] at a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.”
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro on case against alleged press dinner gunman: “We have a lot of evidence that indicates his intent… whether it was, you know, following what the president was doing, where he was going, to the day of the of the event at the hotel. Tracking on his phone:… pic.twitter.com/J9NtXGI3HU
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) May 3, 2026
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