DOJ Cites Shooting to Drop Trump Suit  04/27 06:11

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's Justice Department is using the 
shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday to try to 
pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned $400 million 
ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House.

   "It's time to build the ballroom," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said 
plainly Sunday on X, posting a letter in which Assistant Attorney General Brett 
Shumate gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has sued to 
block construction, until 9 a.m. Monday to dismiss its lawsuit.

   If it doesn't do so, Shumate wrote, the government would ask a court to do 
so "in light of last night's extraordinary events," calling the Washington 
Hilton -- the site of Saturday's gala -- "demonstrably unsafe" for events with 
the president "because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for 
the Secret Service."

   The White House ballroom, Shumate wrote, "will ensure the safety and 
security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination 
attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton."

   Asked about the letter, Elliot Carter, spokesperson for the National Trust 
for Historic Preservation, said Sunday the group would review it with legal 
counsel.

   The preservation group sued in December, a week after the White House 
finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that Trump said 
would fit 999 people. Trump says the project is funded by private donations, 
although public money is paying for the bunker construction and security 
upgrades.

   A crowd of 2,300 attended Saturday night's event at the Hilton, home to one 
of the few rooms in Washington large enough for the event. It packs in 
attendees at round tables whose chairs are back to back, and room to move 
around is tight. The dinner is not a White House event -- it is run by the 
White House Correspondents' Association, a nonprofit organization of 
journalists from media outlets that cover the president.

   Republicans amp up their push for White House ballroom

   For months, Trump has mentioned the ballroom project at nearly every chance, 
often talking about the lawsuit or his desire to construct the space during 
events on a number of other topics. As he addressed tuxedo- and ball gown-clad 
reporters who scurried from the Washington Hilton to the White House for a 
Saturday night news conference, Trump called for tougher security measures and 
pointed to the incident as a reason his ballroom is needed.

   In the wake of the shooting, Trump, Blanche and a number of supporters of 
the administration have taken the opportunity to push for the project across 
social media platforms and news programs. Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said 
he agreed with Trump "100%" on the massive White House construction project, 
which Jordan said on Fox News Channel "obviously would be much safer location 
for these type of events."

   Sunday morning on X, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he agreed 
with Trump that the White House ballroom "is a national security necessity" 
that would give the Secret Service "immense control over the security 
environment of future events with a very hardened facility."

   Even some Democrats agreed. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who attended 
Saturday's dinner, said on X that the proposed White House space should be used 
"for events exactly like these." On CNN later Sunday, Fetterman said attendees 
and Americans overall were in a "vulnerable" position during Saturday's event, 
in part because many in the presidential line of succession were present and 
could have been harmed

   Fetterman responded, "I certainly hope so" when asked if the incident would 
spark more support for the White House project.

   Gate crashers, party crashers, a plane -- security breaches at the White 
House

   In the century-plus since its grounds were largely closed to the public, 
dozens of events are evidence that even the White House complex is not 
impervious to intrusion.

   There have been a number of documented incidents in which people have scaled 
security barriers around the White House. One of them, a disturbed Army veteran 
carrying a knife, jumped the fence in 2014 and raced into the White House, 
making his way into the East Room before heading back down a hallway on the 
State Floor deep within the mansion.

   A Homeland Security Department review of the case determined that lack of 
training, poor staffing decisions and communication problems contributed to the 
embarrassing failure that ultimately led to the resignation of the head of the 
Secret Service.

   In 1994, a pilot died when he crashed a small stolen plane on the South 
Lawn, hitting a tree and a first-floor corner of the building. And in 2009, 
uninvited guests Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed a state dinner, passing 
through security checkpoints and meeting President Barack Obama in an incident 
that sparked security investigations.

   How is the White House ballroom project going?

   In litigation since December, work is ongoing, although there have been 
recent hiccups.

   Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build the massive ballroom in 
that space. In its lawsuit, the National Trust for Historic Preservation argued 
that Trump had overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project 
without first getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.

   Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed Trump to continue 
construction of the $400 million project, ruling a day after a lower court 
judge continued to block above-ground construction on the site and scheduling a 
June 5 hearing to review the case. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's ruling 
had blocked above-ground construction of the 90,000-square-foot 
(8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition, while allowing only below-ground work 
to continue on a bunker and other "national security facilities" at the site.

   On Fox News Channel on Sunday, Trump forecast that, by the end of his 
current term, his project would be complete.

   "In the year '28 you're going to have something, you're going to have a 
ballroom, the top of the line, security," Trump said. "You're not going to have 
problems."