Overview
- Filed on Dec. 18, the lawsuit seeks emails and texts among Secret Service Presidential Protective Division officials about the restaurant incident and any correspondence with @codepink.org accounts.
- Judicial Watch says the agency missed a Dec. 9 FOIA deadline and is probing whether protesters had advance notice of the president’s movements.
- Video from Joe’s Seafood shows the protesters within a few feet of the president as agents speak into handheld radios and Trump gestures toward the group.
- The Secret Service says all diners were screened before the president’s arrival and that protective operations rely on redundant security layers.
- The case unfolds after two 2024 assassination attempts and other reported lapses, including an undetected handgun at Trump National Golf Club, as a House task force cited inexperience in advance planning roles.