Watchdog group demands answers after ‘unbelievable security lapse’ by Trump’s Secret Service team
Judicial Watch says the Secret Service’s lax security left President Trump exposed during a September outing at a Washington D.C. restaurant.
The watchdog group argues that the agency let protesters—many of whom apparently had advance knowledge of the president’s schedule—stand within arm’s reach of the commander‑in‑chief, some near knives and other potential weapons.
“I’m just really concerned about the president’s safety,” Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch told The Post.
Fitton is suing to force the government to hand over internal communications that reveal how the protest group was given fore‑knowledge of the visit.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker called the September incident “an unbelievable security lapse.”
“I can’t believe they would let random people sit in that close proximity to them,” he said, adding, “That’s crazy. That’s like’s like the days when Abraham Lincoln would ride down Pennsylvania Avenue in his coach and buggy with no protection.”
On December 18, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. federal court seeking all U.S. Secret Service (USSS) emails and text messages among officials in the Presidential Protective Division that mention the presence of Code Pink protestors at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab.
The group also requests every message sent between USSS officials and any address ending in @codepink.org.
Court documents allege the government missed a Dec. 9 Freedom of Information Act deadline to submit the requested records.
The incident occurred on Sept. 9 when Trump dined at Joe’s with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Code Pink protesters, who had more than an hour to book a table, were seated in close proximity to the president. They shouted “Free DC. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time!” and left money on the table before being escorted out.
A video circulating online shows Trump’s security detail speaking into handheld microphones as the protest erupts, while the president signals for the protesters to be removed.
The lawsuit comes after two close calls with the president in 2024. An attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July and a shooting of his motorcade in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September prompted a House task force to note that “inexperienced personnel did not clearly understand the delineation of their responsibilities.”
Judicial Watch also requests Secret Service documents related to those two incidents.
Separately, the Secret Service failed to spot a guest who brought a Glock handgun onto the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, during a president‑present event. The agent’s manual searches did not catch the weapon, although the individual was never within close range of the president.
When asked about the incident, a Secret Service spokesperson said the agency “takes the safety and security of our sites very seriously and there are redundant security layers built into every one.” The agency declined comment on the lawsuit.
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