(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced it forced the release of 14 pages of heavily redacted records from…
The post Judicial Watch: Trump Virginia Golf Club Member Carried Loaded Handgun in Bag While President Was on… appeared first on Judicial Watch.
—
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced it forced the release of 14 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S. Secret Service in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit showing that, on August 31, 2025, a club member carried a loaded semi-automatic handgun past s Secret Service screening checkpoint at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, VA, while President Donald Trump was present at the club.
The records include an agent’s summary of the incident that states the member took it upon himself to alert authorities on site that he had the weapon and did so because he “cares about POTUS.”
Judicial Watch filed the April 2026 lawsuit after the Secret Service failed to respond to a November 18, 2025, FOIA request for records related to the internal investigation of the August 2025 incident at the Trump National Golf Club, in which a club member was able to get a semi-automatic handgun into the club premises while the president was present (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:26-cv-01447)).
On August 31, 2025, an assistant special agent in charge in the Washington Field Office (WFO) sends an email to another WFO official summarizing the incident:
At approximately 1553 hours, a member of Trump National Golf [Club] (TNGC), [redacted] Kennelly, approached a [redacted]-stander and advised that he had inadvertently brought a pistol through a screening location and the pistol was not detected.
[Redacted] advised that, at approximately 1200 hours, he arrived at TNGC [Trump National Golf Club] to eat lunch and go to the pool. Upon arrival at TNGC, [redacted] entered the clubhouse through the [redacted] entrance and was screened at that location. [Redacted] advised that he was searched via a [redacted] metal detector and his bag was searched visually. [Redacted] then went on to eat lunch on the patio and then go to the pool. Upon changing his clothes after using the pool, [redacted] realized that he had inadvertently left his Glock 43 pistol in the gym bag and that the bag was searched without the pistol being found. It was at this time the member approached a [redacted]-stander at the employee entrance and advised of the situation because he ‘cares about POTUS.’ WFO PI [Protective Intelligence] was notified and SAs [special agents] [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted] responded.
WFO PI interviewed [redacted] and viewed his pistol in his bag. TNGC camera footage was reviewed. [Redacted] was seen on camera entering the club and having his bag searched as he described. [Redacted] was also on camera on the patio eating lunch, going to the pro-shop, the men’s locker room, moving through the pool house, and at the pool. [Redacted] is seen on camera with his bag at each location.
WFO PI’s investigation is ongoing.
The records include a photograph of handwritten notes that retrace some of the member’s actions while he was carrying the handgun in his gym bag:
11:59:50 AM (enters)
12:02 At lunch
1:20:13 Moves back upstairs
1:20:25 Goes to pro shop
1:24:00 Goes to locker room
1:30:09 Changed & goes back to pro shop
1:32:00 Leaves pro shop
1:32:13 Walks out front door
Photographs of a Virginia driver’s license and the license plate of a Mercedes-Benz are included in the production of records. The plate number and relevant data on the license are redacted.
A Secret Service Protective Intelligence and Assessment Division report of the incident states, “No protective movements were affected by this incident” and “There is no reported media coverage of this incident.”
On the day after the incident, September 1, a WFO employee emails another WFO employee, “In case we’re out on the course and this guy shows up again they want a full interview with him.”
(The agent in charge of searching the guest’s bag at the Sterling, VA, golf facility was reportedly placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing review by the Secret Service.)
“The Secret Service is a dangerous mess. Given the previous attempts on the president’s life, it is highly disturbing that this type of security lapse could occur—and that it takes a federal lawsuit to get a fuller picture into how a person was able to get a gun through a Secret Service checkpoint,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Recently, Judicial Watch received Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records concerning Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The records include photos taken of the Pittsburgh area by Crooks using a drone, cell phone evidence that shows that Crooks received fundraising appeals for Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and an unusual chat thread between Crooks and an unidentified person (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02216)).
In April 2026, Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit forced the release of records from the FBI that show that Crooks was reportedly involved in an altercation with a group of people and making “hateful comments” directed at President Trump at the Butler, PA, rally site before the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt.
In February 2026, Judicial Watch’s lawsuit forced the release of the first FBI records about the Butler assassination attempt.
In December 2025, Judicial Watch sued the Secret Service for communications records related to Code Pink protesters who disrupted a dinner held by President 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)).
In September 2025, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for messages among top leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation referencing social media posts of Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri, head of the Miami Field Office, which is investigating the September 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-02740)).
In March 2025, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records related to security provided for the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, PA (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:25-cv-00704)).
In August 2024, Judicial Watch uncovered documents from the district attorney’s office in Butler County, PA, detailing the extensive preparation of local police for the rally at which former President Trump was shot. The preparation included sniper teams, counter assault teams and a quick response force.
In August 2024, in response to a separate open records request, Judicial Watch obtained bodycam footage of the July 13 assassination events from the Butler Township Police Department.
In August 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)).
###
The post Judicial Watch: Trump Virginia Golf Club Member Carried Loaded Handgun in Bag While President Was on… appeared first on Judicial Watch.
