Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, stated unequivocally that the suspect in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting fired the shot that struck a Secret Service agent. Appearing on Sunday's episode of State of the Union, Pirro detailed the evidence: "First of all, there is video of the defendant shooting at the Secret Service agent. There is also the agent who will tell you himself that he was shot at and then he returned the fire. But, more importantly is the fact that we now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer."
Pirro emphasized the severity of the attack: "It is definitively his bullet [that] hit that Secret Service agent. He had every intention to kill him and anyone who got in his way, on his way to killing the president of the United States. This was a premeditated, violent act calculated to take down the president and anyone who was in the line of fire."
The incident occurred last week at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and numerous journalists were gathered for the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The suspect allegedly attempted to bypass Secret Service agents to reach the ballroom where Trump was present, resulting in an agent being shot. While the suspect's attorneys have expressed doubt that he fired his weapon, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed last week that the suspect discharged his gun once. The suspect faces charges including attempted assassination of Trump, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in intrastate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
On State of the Union, Pirro asserted that her office possesses extensive evidence indicating Trump was the intended target. "And make no mistake, it is not just the manifesto," Pirro said. "It is his actions...I can tell you we will be able to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. The one issue that people might think about, is he insane, he is far from insane. He is brilliant. He has a master's degree. He worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory."
The suspect's alleged manifesto does not explicitly name Trump but references him indirectly, stating, "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." Trump denied these allegations in a 60 Minutes interview, saying, "I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody. I'm not a pedophile."
