Oct. 22 (Gephardt Daily/UPI) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Army to release documents related to former President Donald Trump‘s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery in August, a visit he shared with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman signed an order that requires the U.S. Army to now “produce responsive, non-exempt records” by or before Friday, according to court documents.
The suit was brought by the nonpartisan watchdog and nonprofit American Oversight, which advocates for release of government records.
In August, the former president and current Republican nominee took part in a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the third anniversary of a deadly attack on U.S. troops during their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Cox also attended the private memorial service, which was held for Marine Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, of Utah, and Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, of California.
According to reports at the time, an Arlington Cemetery official tried to prevent Trump’s campaign staff from entering Section 60, which is where many U.S. veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq service have been laid to rest.
The U.S. Army maintains that a female cemetery employee was verbally abused and “abruptly pushed aside” by Trump campaign staff.
But in August, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita characterized the incident as a “disgrace.” A “despicable individual,” LaCivita claimed, had allegedly tried to “physically prevent” Trump’s team from “accompanying him to this solemn event.”
The alleged incident prompted Vice President Kamala Harris to criticize Trump, saying he “disrespected sacred ground.”
Tuesday’s order by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia called for the documents to be released in a way that allowed for the continued protection over the identity of the person who is alleged to have been assaulted by a Trump campaign official.
Gov. Cox
After the Arlington National Cemetery photo was used in Cox’s campaign material, Alan Wessman, a 2024 Utah County Commission candidate for the United Utah Party, noted the violation.
“Arlington National Cemetery forbids use of its grounds for political events,” Wessman posted on X.
Cox responded in a post shared at the time by Wessman:
Dear Alan,
My campaign sent out an email this morning about an event I attended at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign.
The email did not go through proper channels and should not have been sent. Honoring those who serve should never be ‘political.’
We’re committed, as we move forward, to ensure that we run the best campaign possible and we’ll accomplish that not by politicizing things that shouldn’t be political.
Thank you, (signed) Spencer J. Cox
There have been no reports alleging Cox or his staff were involved in verbal or physical assaults.
Trump lawsuit
With the election weeks away, the American people “have a clear and compelling interest in knowing how the government responded to an alleged incident involving a major presidential candidate who has a history of politicizing the military,” Chioma Chukwu, American Oversight’s interim executive director, said Tuesday in a release.
“These records belong to the public, and we’re pleased the court agreed on the need to expedite our request,” Chukwu said. “We look forward to receiving the incident report and making it available to the public.”
Army officials allegedly were incensed over the incident, as Trump and his campaign had been warned that “federal laws, Army regulations and DOD policies … clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
But the Army opted not to pursue the matter any further.
Trump campaign officials initially had promised to release a video proving Trump was not at fault. But no such video has since been released.
