**LOS ANGELES** — New revelations presented by prosecutors have heightened concerns in an already serious security incident at one of President Donald Trump’s properties, with investigators saying the man arrested possessed detailed information tied to the president’s protective detail — including material involving first lady Melania Trump.
Jeanine John Taele, 38, allegedly had copies of Melania Trump’s schedule and information about Secret Service personnel assigned to protect the president, prosecutors disclosed during a Los Angeles County court hearing Wednesday. Authorities said Taele possessed seven notebooks containing 208 pages of writings, drawings and sketches linked to Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes. The notebooks allegedly included Secret Service schedules, details on individual security personnel and lists related to surviving “off the grid.”
Los Angeles County Judge John Lonergan Jr. called the allegations “alarming,” noting the broader climate of political violence and partisanship ahead of the midterms.
The new details surface weeks after plainclothes federal agents encountered Taele at the golf club on Aug. 2. Authorities said he was walking the property, taking photographs and videos, and appeared to be observing security-planning activity ahead of an expected Trump visit. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies detained him and allegedly found a 16-round magazine loaded with hollow-point ammunition in his pants pocket. A search of his vehicle reportedly turned up a loaded handgun with a round in the chamber and another magazine containing hollow-point rounds.
Taele allegedly told investigators he worked for the State Department and was present as part of a security detail. A subsequent search of his home in Downey, California, allegedly recovered an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, a .45-caliber handgun, body armor, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition and radio signal devices. Investigators also recovered the notebooks containing what authorities had previously described as “concerning statements.”
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Secret Service and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the case.
Proceedings took another turn after a pretrial evaluation found Taele mentally unfit to stand trial. Judge Lonergan suspended the criminal case and transferred it to mental health court. Taele, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, remains jailed pending a Sept. 9 hearing at Hollywood Mental Health Court.
His public defender, A.J. Bayne, cautioned against premature conclusions about his client’s intentions, noting that Taele is a veteran with a supportive family. “People assume too much,” Bayne said.
The Secret Service declined to discuss specific details, reiterating that it thoroughly investigates any activity that could pose a protective intelligence concern. President Trump has previously addressed the arrest in the context of multiple threats and assassination attempts he has faced in recent years.
