"I'm really concerned about the president's safety," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, warning that recent Secret Service actions reflect serious security failures surrounding President Donald Trump.
Fitton said the president "was almost killed twice, supposedly under the protection of the Secret Service, and then they walked him into a potentially dangerous ambush," talking with the New York Post about a September incident at a Washington restaurant where Trump was confronted by protesters.
Judicial Watch is demanding answers from the government after what it calls an "unbelievable security lapse" that allowed Code Pink activists to confront Trump during a dinner at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab.
The watchdog group has filed a lawsuit seeking internal Secret Service communications to determine how protesters appeared to have advance notice of Trump's closely held movements.
Fitton said protesters were allowed to get dangerously close to the president inside the restaurant.
"These people were allowed to get within arm's length of the sitting president with knives and who knows what else available to them in the restaurant," Fitton said.
The lawsuit seeks internal emails and text messages among Secret Service agents in the Presidential Protective Division related to the presence of Code Pink protesters, as well as any communications between agency personnel and email accounts ending in @codepink.org.
Judicial Watch says the government failed to meet a Dec. 9 deadline to produce the records under the Freedom of Information Act.
Trump dined at the restaurant on Sept. 9 with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Video from the incident showed members of Trump's security detail speaking into handheld microphones as the disruption unfolded, while Trump pointed toward the protesters as they shouted slogans including "Free DC" and "Free Palestine."
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker called the episode "an unbelievable security lapse."
"I can't believe they would let random people sit in that close proximity to them," Swecker said. "That's crazy."
While none of the protesters were accused of violence, Fitton warned that anyone with advance knowledge of the president's movements poses a potential threat.
Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign, one in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, and another in September at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A subsequent House task force found that inexperienced personnel involved in Trump's protection "did not clearly understand the delineation of their responsibilities."
Judicial Watch is also seeking Secret Service records related to those incidents.
In another security failure cited by the group, a guest managed to bring a Glock handgun onto Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, while the president was present.
The firearm was carried onto the course in a bag despite agents conducting manual searches, according to reports.
The Secret Service said at the time that the armed individual was never in close proximity to the president and that there are redundant security layers at protected sites.
The agency also said all restaurant guests were screened before Trump arrived and declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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