DOJ cites White House Correspondents Dinner shooting in push to drop lawsuit against ballroom

By Fox News · Fox News

The Justice Department is pressing the leading opposition to President Donald Trump's $400 million privately funded ballroom project, calling on lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) to drop their lawsuit. "[Y]our lawsuit puts the lives of the president, his family, and his staff at grave risk," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Brett Shumate wrote in a Sunday letter to opposing counsel, shared on X by Attorney General Todd Blanche. "Enough is enough," the Shumate continued. Your client should voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night's assassination attempt on President Trump." Shumate vowed that if the NTHP did not move to dismiss by 9 a.m. Monday morning, he would move to dissolve the injunction against the ballroom's construction and to dismiss the case. WALZ REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM THAT TRUMP CONSIDERS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM 'TOP PRIORITY' "It’s time to build the ballroom," Blanche agreed, in his X post, echoing Trump's words during the impromptu White House briefing after dodging his third assassination attempt by a crazed gunman who rushed the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night. "The shooter targeted President Trump at the Washington Hilton, the only ballroom in Washington, D.C., suitable to host large gatherings for the President, where another shooter targeted President Reagan 45 years ago," Shumate noted in his letter to Greg B. Craig of Foley Hoag LLP, pointing to the historical context of former President Ronald Reagan's near-assassination at the same location. "As history proves, that venue is demonstrably unsafe for the President of the United States because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service. "[Saturday’s] assassination attempt on President Trump proves, yet again, that the White House ballroom is essential for the safety and security of the President, his family, his cabinet, and his staff." CHECKS AND BALANCES: TRUMP, SUPPORTERS SEE…