By Luis De Jesus
Acting US Attorney Todd Blanche asked a court dismiss the lawsuit that is blocking the construction of a ballroom in the White House, a project promoted by President Donald Trump and valued at about $400 million dollars.
The petition, filed Monday by the Department of Justice, seeks to strike down the criminal action filed by Nationwide Belief for Ancient Preservation, an organization that denounced the demolition of the East Wing of the presidential complex to make way for a space with capacity for 999 people.
The government’s appeal argues that The lawsuit puts “the lives of all presidents in serious danger, both current and future,” in reference to the shooting that occurred Saturday during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The incident has been used by Trump and his allies to stress the need for a safer venue for large-scale events.
However, the court document drew attention for its tone, according to an observation by AP because, throughout its 16 pages, it includes expressions, capital letters and qualifiers similar to those that Trump himself usually uses on social networks, with praise for the president and disqualifications for his critics.
Among them, the writing He even questions the name of the plaintiff organization and accuses it of being “very harmful to the country,” in addition to attributing to him what he calls “Trump derangement syndrome,” a term that the president has used repeatedly to refer to his opponents.
The fashioned lawsuit was filed in December by Nationwide Belief, which maintains that Trump overstepped his bounds by advancing the work without approval from Congress or federal agencies. He also warns that, although the president assures that the construction is financed with private donations, public resources areThey would be using them to reinforce security and build an underground bunker.
The group’s attorney, Gregory Craig, responded that the recent shooting does not change the legal requirements. “The Constitution and multiple federal laws require Congress to authorize the construction of a ballroom on the grounds of the White House, and that has not happened,” he pointed out.
The White House did not deny that Trump participated in drafting or reviewing the document presented by the Justice Department. In a statement, spokesman Davis Ingle said that The president is “intimately involved” in the case and works with his prison team to “end this farce.”
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