The Secret Service nearly got Donald Trump killed twice during the 2024 campaign.
Conservatives thought those dark days were behind them.
But Secret Service was slapped with a lawsuit after this scary failure.
Watchdog exposes alarming security breach at Trump dinner
Conservative watchdog Judicial Watch filed a bombshell lawsuit against the Secret Service after the agency stonewalled requests for documents about how Code Pink protesters infiltrated President Trump's September dinner at a Washington, D.C. restaurant.¹
The protesters got within arm's reach of Trump while he dined with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told The New York Post the breach should terrify every American.²
"I'm just really concerned about the president's safety," Fitton said. "He was almost killed twice supposedly under the protection of the Secret Service and then they walked him into a potentially dangerous ambush."²
The lawsuit demands all internal emails and text messages among Secret Service officials regarding the Code Pink protesters, plus any correspondence with email accounts ending in @codepink.org.³
Fitton's group has been trying for three months to get answers.
Someone tipped them off.
"These people were allowed to get within arm's length of the sitting president with knives and who knows what else in the restaurant available to them," Fitton said.²
The Secret Service ignored a December 9 deadline under the Freedom of Information Act.
They're hiding something.
FBI veteran calls breach worse than Lincoln-era security
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker didn't mince words.
"I can't believe they would let random people sit in that close proximity to them," Swecker told The Post. "That's crazy. That's like the days when Abraham Lincoln would ride down Pennsylvania Avenue in his coach and buggy with no protection."²
Think about that comparison for a second.
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.
The Secret Service just gave Trump 1865-level protection in 2025.
Trump made the September 9 visit to celebrate how his deployment of National Guard troops had made D.C. streets markedly safer.
Code Pink members reserved a table at the upscale seafood restaurant and somehow scored seats directly next to Trump and his Cabinet officials.
Video footage shows the protesters shouting "Free DC. Free Palestine. Trump is the Hitler of our time!" while standing just feet from the commander in chief.⁴
Code Pink organizer Olivia DiNucci later admitted to The Daily Beast that her group made the reservation "pretty last-minute."⁵
"We thought it was just going to be Trump, we didn't know it was all of his Cabinet, and we didn't think they would be in such an open room," DiNucci said.⁵
Wait, it gets worse.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was so furious she called Secret Service leaders into her office and read them the riot act, according to Axios.⁶
But here's the question nobody at the Secret Service wants to answer: How did Code Pink know Trump would be there that night?
The White House never announced his plans.
This was supposed to be a surprise visit on September 9 to show D.C. was safe under Trump's National Guard deployment.
Yet somehow Code Pink had advance warning, made last-minute reservations, and ended up at the table next to the President.
Either someone at the Secret Service leaked Trump's location, or someone at the restaurant tipped them off.
Neither option is acceptable.
Zero accountability for putting Trump's life at risk
Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman shot him in the ear during a campaign rally.
He survived a second attempt in September at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Both happened under Secret Service protection.
A Senate report found the agency denied multiple security requests for Trump during the 2024 campaign, including Counter Assault Team support and enhanced counter-drone systems for Butler.⁷
The Government Accountability Office revealed Secret Service officials received classified intelligence about a threat to Trump's life ten days before Butler but never shared it with law enforcement responsible for securing the event.⁸
They knew Trump's life was in danger and said nothing.
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle lied to Congress when she testified no security requests were denied for Butler.⁷
She committed perjury and walked away.
The agency disciplined only six personnel over Butler, with suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days.⁹
Let that sink in.
Trump got shot in the head and nobody got fired.
Six people got slaps on the wrist.
The rest kept their jobs like nothing happened.
The Secret Service also failed to detect a guest who brought a Glock handgun onto Trump National Golf Club in Virginia while the President was there.¹⁰
The guest walked right past agents with a loaded weapon while Trump was on the course.
What's their excuse? They claimed "redundant security layers" meant the armed individual was never in close proximity to Trump.¹⁰
That's not reassuring.
That's terrifying.
Any one of these incidents could have been the moment a president died on live television.
Trump survived Butler because he turned his head at the exact right millisecond.
He survived West Palm Beach because a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking through a fence.
He survived the restaurant because Code Pink chose to protest instead of doing something worse.
Luck shouldn't be the Secret Service's security plan.
Judicial Watch is forcing the Secret Service to answer for failures that could have gotten a President killed.
The American people deserve to know who's dropping the ball and why nobody's been held accountable.
¹ Staff, "Conservative watchdog raises concerns over Trump's safety after 'unbelievable' Secret Service security lapse during September restaurant visit," OAN, December 28, 2025.
² Geoff Earle, "Watchdog group demands answers after 'unbelievable security lapse' by Trump's Secret Service team," New York Post, December 27, 2025.
³ John Solomon, "Judicial Watch sues 'tarnished' Secret Service for records on how Code Pink crashed Trump dinner," Just the News, December 23, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Pilar Melendez, "MAGA Melts Down at the Secret Service Over Donald Trump's Humiliating Dinner," Daily Beast, September 11, 2025.
⁶ Alex Thompson, "Trump's run-in with D.C. protesters still haunts his team," Axios, October 24, 2025.
⁷ Kate Sullivan, "Senate report highlights resources denied for Trump events in 2024," ABC News, July 13, 2025.
⁸ U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, "Grassley Report Concludes Secret Service Failure to Share Threat Information Allowed for Preventable Tragedy in Butler," Senate Judiciary Committee, July 2025.
⁹ Luke Barr, "6 Secret Service agents suspended over conduct during attempted Trump assassination," ABC News, July 10, 2025.
¹⁰ Earle, "Watchdog group demands answers."
