Trump’s Arlington Scandal Takes a Most Disturbing Turn

The military has yet to provide congressional Democrats with its internal report on the incident detailing the confrontation, despite being asked for it for nearly two weeks, a congressional aide familiar with the situation told me. Democrats have also demanded a detailed accounting of what was communicated to the Trump campaign before the incident. Trump aides were warned against engaging in any prohibited activities, and a full accounting would show the extent to which they knew in advance that their filming would violate specific laws and regulations. That hasn’t been forthcoming, the aide said.

Three senior House Democrats, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin and Mark Takano, are set to release a new statement Tuesday that increases pressure on the military for more information. The lawmakers, who are ranking Democrats on the Armed Services, Oversight and Veterans Affairs committees, respectively, are calling on the military to immediately provide answers to their questions and urging it to provide a full accounting to the appropriate law enforcement officials who will decide whether a criminal assault occurred.

“The alleged assault of an Arlington staffer by Trump campaign staff requires a strong official response,” the three Democrats said in the statement, which was provided to The New Republic. He added that “the failure to properly investigate this egregious incident in a timely manner and hold the perpetrators accountable undermines the integrity and honor of Arlington National Cemetery” and erodes “the standards requiring impartiality in the military.”