Audio of 911 Calls Following Obama Chef’s Accidental Drowning Released

Both 911 calls made by a secret service agent after former President Obama’s chef, Tafari Campbell, fell into Edgartown Great Pond have been released.

White House chef Tafari Campbell smiles on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Nov. 6, 2008. Ron Edmonds/AP Photo

Audio of the 911 calls following the disappearance of former President Barack Obama’s chef, Tafari Campbell, has been publicly released by several media outlets and widely shared on social media.

Authorities launched a search and rescue operation on the evening of July 23 at Edgartown Great Pond, near the Obamas’ home in Martha’s Vineyard, after it was reported Mr. Campbell had fallen in the water and sunk beneath the surface.

Mr. Campbell was later found deceased shortly before 10 a.m. on July 24 by Massachusetts State Police. His death has officially been ruled by authorities as an accidental drowning, with no foul play involved.

Details around the case have been highly scrutinized by the public, specifically regarding whether President Obama was present, Mr. Campbell’s swimming ability, and the depth of the water.

Calls Reveal 1st Moments After Disappearance

In the heavily redacted audio of the freshly released 911 calls, which deliberately obscures any identifying features of individuals, a Secret Service agent informs the 911 operator that a “guest of the house,” had fallen into the water and was missing.

“We have a male drowning in the back of the property right now,” the agent says in the first call at 7:46 p.m.

“We have our rescue swimmers. They’re attempting to go out there right now.”

As the call unfolds, the 911 operator says he will send an ambulance to the location while also promising to contact the local fire chief and see if “he wants to drop a boat in there.”

“If we get him out of the water, I can give you another situation report; they’re not over the radio right now,” the agent continues.

Former President Barack Obama looks on during the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 8, 2021. Yves Herman/Reuters

“We will have the gate open, and we‘ll send the ambulance down to the front of the house, and I’ll call you back once I hear, once they get that support down by the water,” the agent adds.

The second phone call started a few minutes later, with the same agent providing an update to the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office, informing them the man in the water was still missing. However, rescuers at the location had recovered his hat and a paddle board.

“They’re out in the water right now but as of now they don’t know where he is,” the agent says.

The dispatcher ends the second call with a promise that “everybody was on the way” to “meet with you guys and gather their resources.”

According to authorities, Mr. Campbell’s body was later recovered 100 feet from the pond’s shore, at a depth of approximately eight feet. Officials said at the time that the State Police Detective Unit was jointly investigating the fatality for the Cape and Islands District and Edgartown Police. It was also revealed that Mr. Campbell was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident.

It was confirmed by police the Obamas were not present at their nearby residence at the time of Mr. Campbell’s accident, but were on the island. They both later shared tributes to Mr. Campbell in a joint statement, describing him as “a talented sous chef” who had become a “beloved part of our family.”

Audio from the two initial calls by the Secret Service agent was reportedly shared by the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office, which fielded the call. The Epoch Times has reached out to them and President Obama’s office for comment.

Campbell Not Considered Strong Swimmer by Family

According to Judicial Watch, an activist group that files Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to investigate alleged misconduct by government officials, President Obama arrived at the accident scene via motorcade around 8:40 p.m., after being out at dinner, roughly an hour after the initial 911 call from the Secret Service agent.

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wait for their daughters Malia and Sasha to board Marine One at Martha's Vineyard airport in Edgartown, Mass., on Aug. 21, 2016. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

In the 40 pages of redacted records obtained by Judicial Watch from Massachusetts State Police, a female Obama employee told authorities she saw Mr. Campbell fall off his paddle board. He then struggled in the water and yelled for help, before sinking beneath the water in the space of only a few moments.

According to the records, the unnamed Obama employee tried to help Mr. Campbell, but by the time she reached his paddle board, he was already underneath the water, which she described as very murky. The witness was again interviewed in the Obama residence the following morning, with the former president in the room.

Videos posted on Mr. Campbell’s Instagram page in 2019 show him swimming laps in a pool. However, the documents from Judicial Watch reveal that Mr. Campbell’s family told police he had undertaken swimming lessons in the past but described his overall swimming ability as poor and he was ultimately “not a great swimmer.”

The documents claim there is a Secret Service video showing Mr. Campbell and the unnamed Obama employee entering the water. It’s also claimed the video shows the Secret Service emergency response in the immediate aftermath of the drowning.

The waters in which Mr. Campbell drowned, Edgartown Great Pond, span 890 acres. The Obamas’ 6,892-foot mansion is located at the edge of the pond. They bought it for $11.75 million in 2019. Before the Obamas, Wycliffe Grousbeck, who owns the Boston Celtics, owned the estate.