A man arrested at Donald Trump’s California golf club carried notebooks containing Melania Trump’s schedule and Secret Service details. Authorities discovered the materials after detaining the suspect on August 2, sparking an ongoing federal investigation.
Report suggests ex-Marine arrested near Donald Trump’s golf club had details of Melania’s schedule
Jeanine John Taele appeared in a Los Angeles County courtroom on August 26, where prosecutors detailed the evidence against him. The former Marine had seven notebooks with 208 pages of handwritten material. These writings included copies of First Lady Melania Trump’s schedule, lists of Secret Service schedules, and personal information about individual security personnel (via The New York Post).
The Associated Press reported that Taele also wrote extensively about surviving “off the grid.” Investigators found sketches and drawings of Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes among the seized materials.
Additionally, plainclothes federal agents first spotted Taele walking the golf course grounds. He was taking photographs and videos while appearing to monitor security planning activities ahead of Trump’s visit (via Fox News Digital).
Los Angeles County Judge John Lonergan Jr. addressed the severity of the situation during the hearing. “This case itself is alarming in this day and age with the violence that is creeping into our everyday lives, especially with our partisanship in the political environment” ahead of the midterms, Lonergan said.
Deputies who detained Jeanine John Taele found a 16-round magazine loaded with hollow-point ammunition in his pants pocket, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A search of his vehicle uncovered a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber and another magazine containing hollow-point ammunition.
Taele told deputies he worked for the State Department and was conducting a security detail at the golf course. However, a subsequent search of his Downey home revealed an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition, and radio signal devices. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Secret Service, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are leading the investigation.
Taele’s public defender, A.J. Bayne, defended her client’s character while cautioning against premature judgments.
