Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is demanding access to the incident report detailing former President Donald Trump’s visit to the Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week, during which a cemetery employee was “abruptly pushed aside” by Trump’s campaign.
“As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am troubled by the reporting and want to see the incident report,” Kaine said in a statement Thursday.
The request from Kaine comes after a cemetery employee attempted to stop Trump’s campaign team from filming and taking photos of the area and cited federal law prohibiting campaign or election-related activities on the grounds. The employee then got into a “verbal and physical altercation” with campaign officials who “verbally abused and pushed the official aside,” according to a statement from an Army spokesperson Thursday.
The employee then avoided further disruption and reported the incident to the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Police Department but decided not to press charges. As a result, the Army considers the matter closed.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the Army said in a rare rebuke from the military service branch. “ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, brushed off scrutiny surrounding the event. He told the Washington Examiner earlier this week that the unnamed staffer was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises, and for whatever reason, an unnamed individual … decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” Cheung said.
The Trump campaign released a six-minute video Monday that featured short interviews with several Gold Star family members criticizing President Joe Biden’s response to the bombing and his treatment of them in the time since then. Biden released a written statement on the morning of the anniversary to honor those who died in the attack.
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Trump has repeatedly attacked the Biden administration for the 2021 Afghan withdrawal and the Abbey Gate bombing, which killed about 170 Afghans in addition to the 13 U.S. troops. Many of the families have expressed anger toward Biden for the death of their loved ones and have connected with a sympathetic Trump, which led some to speak at the Republican National Convention last month.
The families have said since Monday’s incident that they invited Trump to join them for the memorial.
Mike Brest contributed to this report.