Trump-aligned legal watchdog group files FOIA lawsuit against DHS, Secret Service over documents about first assassination attempt

By 
 September 21, 2024

Following the first attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security were sharply criticized for their vague and inadequate responses to questions from Congress and the media.

Now both the Secret Service and DHS have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the pro-Trump watchdog organization known as America First Legal, according to Fox News.

The lawsuit accuses the two federal agencies of illegally concealing and refusing to turn over pertinent documents and information related to the July 13 incident in which Trump was grazed by a bullet fired by a gunman who also killed one rally-goer and critically wounded two others.

DHS and Secret Service have refused to turn over requested documents

On Thursday, America First Legal issued a press release to announce the lawsuit it filed against the Secret Service and DHS after those two agencies refused to cooperate with multiple requests to turn over relevant documents and communications about the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

The prior requests filed in July and August sought documents about "potential USSS staffing shortages" and "USSS hiring and employment standards," as well as all communications on the day of the incident involving DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas and his acting deputy secretary and chief of staff, along with the scheduling calendars for certain "key government officials," including the then-director and deputy director of the Secret Service.

The organization noted that despite requesting an expedited response and meeting all of the standards to receive swift processing, none of its requests have been fulfilled to date.

Instead, AFL says that the Secret Service informed them in July that it would produce the requested records on an expedited basis because there was "no threat to the life or safety of anyone" and "no urgency to inform the public about government activity" -- even as the same agency agreed to provide expedited processing for unrelated records requests that used the same justifications.

Congress also frustrated by DHS and Secret Service "stonewalling"

AFL noted in its release that it is not alone in expressing frustration at the inadequate responses from the Secret Service and DHS to questions about what occurred before, during, and after the July 13 shooting incident, as several U.S. senators, Democrat and Republican, have similarly decried the vague answers and uncooperativeness of the two federal agencies.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently told reporters, "I am reaching the point of total outrage because the response from the Department of Homeland Security has been totally lacking. In fact, I think it’s tantamount to stonewalling in many respects."

He was joined by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who released a whistleblower report detailing multiple alleged agency failures, and said, "To date, Secret Service and DHS have provided virtually no answers, and there remain many outstanding questions."

Then there is Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who is leading an investigation of the July 13 assassination attempt and recently said of the lack of requested information turned over by the Secret Service and DHS, "[The] toxicology report; we don’t have any of the trajectory reports. So, where’d the bullets go? We don’t even know how they handled the crime scene."

Lawsuit seeks court order to produce requested documents

In a statement, AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton said, "On July 13, the American people watched in horror as a lunatic attempted to assassinate former President, and current candidate for President, Donald Trump. Today, there is widespread and bipartisan acknowledgment that there were catastrophic failures that tragic day and in the weeks and months ahead of it."

"We are committed to obtaining these records so that the American people can see for themselves exactly what senior DHS leadership was prioritizing in its mission and why more resources were not devoted to the protection of President Donald J. Trump," he added.

The 40-page lawsuit, which includes 30 pages of copies of the previous correspondence between AFL, DHS, and Secret Service as supporting exhibits, asks the court to order the two agencies to immediately comply with the Freedom of Information Act requests and produce the sought-after records by a specific but yet-to-be-determined date.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson