Judicial Watch announced on Tuesday it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for U.S. Secret Service communications records related to Code Pink protesters who disrupted a dinner held by President Donald Trump at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2025 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-04408)).
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Secret Service, a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, failed to respond to a September 10, 2025, FOIA request for:
1. All internal emails and text messages among USSS officials in the Presidential Protective Division regarding the presence of Code Pink protestors appearing at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab restaurant in Washington, D.C. on the evening of September 9, 2025, while President Trump and other administration officials dined there.
2. All emails sent between USSS [U.S. Secret Service] officials and any email account ending in @codepink.org.
On the evening of September 9, 2025, during President Trump’s dinner with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other officials, a group of Code Pink activists began a protest in the restaurant by chanting slogans and waving Palestinian flags.
“The Secret Service has a tarnished records when it comes to protecting President Donald Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American people deserve accountability from the agencies that are entrusted with the duty of guarding their president.”
In July 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Justice for all records regarding Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Trump on July 13, 2024, (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02216)).
In March 2025, Judicial Watch sued Homeland Security for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA, during which there was an assassination attempt on Trump (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)).
In September 2024, following up on reports that the Biden Secret Service denied Trump’s requests for additional Secret Service protection, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit for Secret Service and other records regarding potential increased protective services to Trump’s security detail prior to the attempt on his life at his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-02495)).
