Top Democrats call on Army to rebuke Trump over Arlington photo shoot

Three top Democrats are rapping the Army's response to Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last month, saying the service needs to "admonish" the former president for using the burial ground for political gain.

In a joint statement Tuesday, Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the top Democrats on the House Armed Services, Oversight and Veterans' Affairs panels, said the service must answer questions submitted by their committees over a week ago on investigations and the service's plans to prevent future politicization of the cemetery.

"While we are sympathetic to the challenges the Army faces in addressing and holding accountable a former president and his campaign staff, failure to properly investigate this egregious incident in a timely manner and hold violators accountable undermines the integrity and honor of Arlington National Cemetery and erodes the longstanding rules, tradition, and norms requiring nonpartisanship in the U.S. military," the lawmakers said.

Trump has defended his visit, where he attended a memorial with families of U.S. troops killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. While Democrats have accused him of politicizing the cemetery, Trump and allies have pivoted to blaming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the loss of 13 service members during the withdrawal three years ago.

But the lawmakers said Trump's release of a video of his visit that includes criticism of Biden for bungling the withdrawal showed the Republican nominee for president "clearly violated" rules that prohibit political activities at Arlington.

"The actions of former President Trump and his campaign staff were in flagrant violation of regulations, tradition, norms, and decorum and dishonored the memories of those interred at Arlington and the meaning of patriotic service to our country," the trio said. "We urge the U.S. Army to immediately provide information regarding how the event was coordinated."

They also argued that a confrontation between Trump campaign staff and an Arlington official who was attempting to prevent photography in an area of the cemetery where it is prohibited for political activities "requires a strong official response."

"As with any alleged assault, this incident should be investigated by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and should be subject to an independent charging decision," they said. "We urge the Army to cooperate fully with the charging authority, including providing any information they have on the alleged incident to that authority."

The employee involved in the incident has declined to press charges. The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's team defended the visit and said the employee who objected was suffering from mental health issues.