A high-profile dinner at an upscale Washington DC steakhouse, meant to be a private affair, turned into a major security concern when protesters managed to get dangerously close to former President Donald Trump. This incident has now sparked a legal battle, with the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch taking the US government to court to uncover potential failures in the protective cordon.
Lawsuit Demands Transparency on Security Failure
On December 18, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit in the Washington DC Federal Court. The legal action demands that the US government release all internal communications among United States Secret Service (USSS) officials concerning the Code Pink protesters. The demonstrators had gathered at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on September 9, where they shouted down President Trump during his meal.
The lawsuit specifically seeks "all internal emails and text messages among USSS officials in the Presidential Protective Division regarding the presence of Code Pink protestors" and all correspondence between USSS officials and Code Pink email accounts. According to court documents, the government allegedly ignored a December 9 deadline set under the Freedom of Information Act to provide this critical information.
Details of the Concerning Dinner Incident
The controversial event occurred when President Trump dined with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. While the protesters were not accused of violence, their mere presence raised alarm bells. Judicial Watch has spent three months investigating how the group secured advance notice of the President’s tightly held movements for an event intended to showcase the city's safety under new federal security.
Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, expressed grave concerns. "I’m just really concerned about the president’s safety," Fitton stated. He highlighted recent assassination attempts, adding, "He was almost killed twice supposedly under the protection of the Secret Service and then they walked him into a potentially dangerous ambush." Fitton warned that the protesters were allowed within arm's length of the sitting president in a setting where knives and other potential weapons were readily available.
Video footage from the incident showed members of the security detail speaking into handheld microphones after the disruption began. The President himself was seen gesturing for the nearby protesters, who chanted "Free DC. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time!", to be removed.
A Pattern of Security Lapses Under Scrutiny
This incident is not viewed in isolation. Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker described the episode as "an unbelievable security lapse," comparing it to the unprotected days of Abraham Lincoln. The concern is amplified by two assassination attempts on Trump during the 2024 campaign—one in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, and another in September at his West Palm Beach golf club. A House task force later found that inexperienced personnel "did not clearly understand the delineation of their responsibilities."
Judicial Watch is also seeking Secret Service documents related to those close calls. In another separate incident, the Secret Service failed to detect a guest who brought a Glock handgun onto the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, while the President was present. While the agency stated all restaurant guests were screened before Trump's arrival and the armed individual was never in close proximity, the pattern is troubling for security experts.
The Secret Service has declined to comment on the ongoing lawsuit. As the legal proceedings unfold, the case underscores persistent questions about the protocols and preparedness of the agency tasked with protecting the nation's leaders, turning a dinner reservation into a national security debate.
