During a hearing on whether accused White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman Cole Allen should remain detained ahead of a criminal trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya scolded federal prosecutors for pushing to move forward with the proceedings even though Allen agreed to remain in custody.
The exchange between prosecutors and the judge occurred when Upadhyaya directed lawyers to approach the bench to discuss the government’s effort to push its case for Allen’s detention. Members of the press and public in attendance could not hear the conversation, but it was included in a transcript of Thursday’s proceedings that was obtained by CBS News.
“I don’t know what’s going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the Court,” Upadhyaya told the prosecutors. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus. I don’t want to have a whole big fight over discovery right now.”
Jocelyn Ballantine, one of the prosecutors working on Allen’s case, told the judge that the government is five days into its investigation and would continue turning over information to the defense.
“Just give them what you have got that you can hand over before the preliminary hearing. Okay. That’s it,” Upadhyaya told Ballantine. The next hearing is set for May 11.
The judge raised the prospect that there could be “significant issues and possibly some national security documents.”
“But I don’t want to get into a whole discussion on the record about which documents you have,” Upadhyaya said. “Neither one of you may want to have that discussion on the record in open court.”
She ordered the Justice Department to “produce what it can” to Allen’s lawyers ahead of the hearing next month.
CNN first reported the judge’s comments.
Allen, 31, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president and two gun charges. He has not yet entered a plea.
Federal authorities have alleged that Allen — armed with two guns and multiple knives — sprinted through a security checkpoint for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday and shot at an officer, before being apprehended by federal law enforcement. President Trump was present one floor below, along with several top administration officials and some 2,600 guests.
Prosecutors had urged the judge ahead of Thursday’s hearing to order Allen to remain in custody in the lead-up to a trial, arguing in court papers that the seriousness of the charges warranted his continued detention.
While defense lawyers said in filings that Allen should be released, Tezira Abe, one of Allen’s attorneys, told the court at the start of the hearing that he conceded to detention.
Charles Jones, another prosecutor, urged the court to move forward with the detention hearing and told Upadhyaya that the government wanted to present additional information to the court. But the judge rejected the effort.
“The defendant is agreeing to be detained. He’s essentially conceding your motion. What audience is your supplemental information for?” she asked, adding “What is the purpose of the government putting additional information on the record at this point given that the defendant is agreeing to your motion?”
Upadhyaya said moving forward with the hearing would be “inefficient.”
“I guarantee you that if the defendant challenges his detention in the future, and this issue is raised before another judge, whether it’s the district judge or another magistrate judge, or me, you would be doing your exact same presentation all over again,” she told Jones.
Hours after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose office in Washington, D.C., is prosecuting Allen, released a new video that she said showed the suspected attacker running through the security checkpoint outside of the correspondents’ dinner.
Prosecutors also provided to the court images of the area outside the ballroom, firearms and ammunition recovered by law enforcement and items found inside the hotel room that law enforcement said Allen rented at the Washington Hilton.
