Judge orders Army to release records on Trump Arlington National Cemetery visit by end of week

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Army to release its internal records on former President Donald Trump’s August visit to Arlington National Cemetery by the end of the week.

Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the expedited release of the Army’s “responsive, non-exempt” records concerning the Aug. 26 event, granting a Freedom of Information Act appeal from American Oversight, a nonprofit transparency activist group.

Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, laid a wreath at the cemetery as part of an event marking the anniversary of the terrorist bombing that killed 13 American service personnel at the end of the war in Afghanistan in 2021. Mr. Trump, who has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, was at the gravesite at the invitation of relatives of those killed.

But critics called the event a political stunt that violated Department of Defense regulations and the national cemetery’s rules.

Army officials at the time also said a Trump campaign aide “abruptly pushed aside” a cemetery employee who tried to stop filming of the event, although the unnamed employee declined to press charges related to the confrontation.

Visual images of the former president at the memorial site were later used in Trump campaign ads.

The Military Times first reported Judge Friedman’s ruling.

“With the election just two 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,” said Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director of American Oversight, in a statement on the organization’s website. “… We look forward to receiving the incident report and making it available to the public.”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly defended his decision to attend the event, and released letters from family members in attendance praising his behavior. Democrats in Congress have pressed the Army to release its record of the incident.