Judge Deals Trump Massive Blow on Appalling Arlington Cemetery Fight
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Army to release all of its records related to Donald Trump’s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery in August.
American Oversight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for the records to be made public under the Freedom of Information Act.
Senior Judge Paul Friedman granted the group’s request, which asked for “any report—including, but not limited to, an incident report filed with U.S. Army Military Police Corps officials and/or any other military officials at Arlington National Cemetery—regarding the alleged incident reported to have taken place during the August 26, 2024, visit by former President Trump to Arlington National Cemetery.”
On August 26, Trump visited the cemetery to attend a wreath-laying ceremony for 13 U.S. service members who were killed in an attack at Kabul’s airport during the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan three years before. After the event concluded, Trump campaign staff recorded the former president smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign next to military graves, footage of which was later used in campaign ads.
When a cemetery employee tried to stop the campaign from taking photos or video, as such political activity is illegal, they were physically shoved by a Trump staffer. The employee opted not to press charges against the staffer, and wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from Trump’s supporters. Trump, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing. His campaign said it would release footage that would show that no laws were broken, but to date has not.
The judge gave the Army an October 25 deadline to release the requested records. Such material could prove damaging and embarrassing to the former president, possibly showing how the physical altercation was instigated and how Trump reacted to it. With the election only weeks away and Trump already having a poor reputation with military veterans, the former president is probably hoping no one pays attention when the truth finally comes out.