April 28 (UPI) -- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Monday that the Justice Department has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom, citing the weekend's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Completion of the $400 million ballroom, which has been under construction since early fall, has been threatened by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's lawsuit, leaving a construction site where the East Wing of the White House once stood.
A federal and Republican push for its completion has intensified after an armed man was arrested at the annual charity dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, with lawmakers and White House officials claiming the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is a security necessity.
During a press conference Monday announcing charges stemming from the dinner against Cole Tomas Allen, including a charge of attempting to assassinate the president, Blanche said the department formally asked the court that morning to dismiss the National Trust for Historic Preservation's lawsuit.
"We filed a motion today asking the court to do what the plaintiffs refused to do," Blanche said.
