Police officers and Secret Service agents outside Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 21, 2023.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg
Hello, FOIA Files readers. This is a special edition of the newsletter that reflects the news from over the weekend. Long before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday, I spent years looking into the way the Secret Service responded to threats against its protectees. In 2022, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the agency for records of threats and security breaches at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump spent much of his time during his first term in office. Keep reading to learn more. Also, if you’re not already getting FOIA Files in your inbox, sign up here.
Last week, the Secret Service finally responded to my Mar-a-Lago security request. The agency’s Protective Intelligence and Assessment Division turned over more than 100 pages of documents, the details of which have not been previously reported. The 159 pages of records provide a behind the scenes look at how the agency responds to potential threats against presidential protectees.
The Secret Service, which has long been plagued by scandal, is now under intense scrutiny over potential security lapses during Trump’s Saturday campaign rally. Despite the agency’s presence, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle was able to crawl atop a nearby roof and take clear aim at Trump. A bullet grazed the former president’s ear.
Long before the incident, dating to his first day in office, Trump has been uniquely vulnerable, partly because he spends a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago, his private Palm Beach resort. The Secret Service doesn’t have any say in who gets welcomed to the so-called Winter White House. Although there are additional screening protocols for guests afforded close access to him, Trump is known to frequently socialize with guests who pay for an annual membership, sometimes making surprise appearances at weddings or parties.
In January 2019, the Government Accountability Office released a report about the Secret Service’s security procedures for Mar-a-Lago. It said that the Secret Service, Coast Guard and local police patrol waterways and entrances around Mar-a-Lago, and that guests may be subject to physical screening.
Click here to read the report (page 10)
Still, the report didn’t answer questions about whether agents responded to or thwarted any type of threat over the years. Or whether Trump was ever in danger.
The FOIA records I recently received provide a little more insight. Taken together, they reveal dozens of incidents where people gained access to Mar-a-Lago while Trump was at the resort, despite not having the authorization to be there. In a couple instances, those individuals were mistakenly waived through checkpoints by Secret Service or Mar-a-Lago security.
It doesn’t appear that any of the individuals who gained access to Mar-a-Lago posed an immediate threat to Trump, according to the documents. Still many of the offenders were charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, and several were sent to mental health facilities.
‘Taking candy from a baby’
In late 2018, an 18-year-old college student arrived at Mar-a-Lago while Trump was visiting. After walking through a tunnel near the pool area, he was screened at a checkpoint by Secret Service and allowed through. During his brief visit, he entered a secure area and uploaded videos of his escapades to Snapchat. One was titled, "Sneaking into Trump club is like taking candy from a baby."Secret Service agents, eventually realizing the student wasn’t supposed to be there, questioned him about his presence. He told them “he wanted to explore and was curious,” and acknowledged that he knew Trump was going to be there. The Secret Service determined the student wasn’t a threat and was “sent on his way.” Ultimately, he was charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor.
Click here to view the documents ( page 8 )
About six months later, another man was detained by Mar-a-Lago security and officers at the Palm Beach Police Department for trespassing. He told them he was there because he “was the ‘Commander in Chief’ and wanted to survey Mar-a-Lago because it was his birthright.” He said the “ruling families of the world” were scheduled to meet at Trump’s residence for “an interdimensional peace conference.”
The intruder said he had no intention of harming Trump, but that he believed Trump wasn’t doing a good job. Whenever Trump was in town, the man said he would go to a nearby park and communicate with Trump via “Morse code through the use of lighters.” The man was taken to the Palm Beach Police Department to be questioned by Secret Service agents. He refused to speak with them. Police had the man involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
Click here to read the documents (page 89)
On another occasion on Dec. 30, 2018, a man showed up at Mar-a-Lago, “physically approached security,” and said he was there to "check in.” The man refused to leave and was arrested by the Palm Beach Police for criminal trespassing.
During an interview, the man said he wanted Trump to sign an executive order to “release six trillion dollars he believed he was owed for his marketing strategy associated with the production of a video game rental idea.” He believed Trump was “holding his money hostage” and said he should be executed “for his actions.” When informed he was banned from Mar-a-Lago, he responded that he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t visit again.
Click here to view the documents ( page 78 )
In another case, two men were seen by Palm Beach police taking photographs near Mar-a-Lago on March 10, 2020. They were asked to leave. A few hours later, they returned, but this time they refused to leave. Palm Beach police then “shattered the windows” of their car “in order to extract” them from the vehicle.
One of the men explained he visited Mar-a-Lago in hopes of speaking with a lawmaker, the CIA, or one of Trump’s children “regarding the ‘deep state’ conspiracy.” The man said “the “deep state” was tracking him through a Radio Frequency Identification chip “implanted in his left arm.”
Both men were arrested by Palm Beach police for trespassing and resisting arrest. The Secret Service later conducted interviews with the men and at least one family member to determine if they posed a threat to Trump.
Click here to read the documents (page 99)
Later that year, another man showed up at Mar-a-Lago and refused to leave. He demanded to speak with Trump about a resume he’d sent in as part of a job application for “the Inspector General position.” He claimed he sent several messages to Trump through the White House website. The Secret Service determined he had “submitted three comments to the White House website regarding his desired position, his interest in stimulating the economy, and a proposed plan of action.” He was arrested by Palm Beach Police for trespassing and resisting arrest.
A ‘classified’ Space Force binder
Another incident took place in February 2021. A woman who claimed to be part of the Space Force said she rode her bike hundreds of miles to meet with Trump. Palm Beach police gave her a written trespass warning, told her not to return and sent her on her way.Some hours later, she returned and said she needed to share classified information with Trump. Palm Beach police arrested her for trespassing. The Secret Service reviewed the police report, conducted a background check on the woman and logged it into a database. Eight months later, the woman returned and was arrested again at the club’s entrance.
The Secret Service conducted a more detailed review and found that in the weeks leading up to her latest arrest she’d visited Mar-a-Lago numerous times. On several occasions she’d attempted to hand Trump a binder that contained what she said was classified information about “military protocol” related to Space Force, the Air Force and NASA.
The Secret Service documents show that the woman possessed “several drawings and handwritten text” referencing “Kyronic Frequency Panel,” “plasmic override chambers,” “copper induced coils” and “additional writings about energy creation.”
Click here to read the documents (page 142)
Secret Service agents tried to get her to share additional details but she refused, saying they did not have proper security clearances to discuss the Space Force.
The documents say that the woman’s frequent appearances at Mar-a-Lago after her initial arrest were not logged into the Secret Service’s Protective Threat Management System, which is used by the agency to record data on potentially threatening behavior and incidents.
When she was released by Palm Beach Police after her arrest she tweeted at Trump, according to the document:
"Mr. #DonaldTrump,” she wrote. “Trinity code is highly upset with the way you have been ignoring protocols, and disrespectful enough to shut me away from assisting. I'm ashamed of you brother."
Click here to read the documents (page 142)
Got a tip for a document you think I should request via FOIA? Send me an email:jleopold15@bloomberg.net or send me a message on Signal: +1-917-623-1908.
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