The Secret Service had increased security around Donald Trump after learning of an Iranian plot to assassinate him, just weeks before he was shot at his campaign rally.
No connection has been found between the Iran plot and Saturday evening’s shooter, 20-year-old nursing home worker Thomas Matthew Crooks, according to CNN.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN they have found no link so far between Crooks “and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic.”
But the rally shooting has put the spotlight on the Secret Service and how the gunman was able to access a rooftop close enough to allow him to hit the former president.
Trump was struck in his right ear but survived. A 50-year-old former fire chief, Corey Comperatore , was killed and two other men injured. Crooks was killed by a sniper shortly after he opened fire.
The Secret Service has cautioned the Trump campaign against holding rallies outdoors, according to CNN. The campaign previously stopped conducting events where guests weren’t swept by the Secret Service beforehand.
A national security official told CNN that the Secret Service was aware of the threat before the rally on Saturday. The Trump campaign was “made aware of an evolving threat” and the Secret Service “surged resources” to protect Trump before Saturday.
“We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service,” the Trump campaign told CNN in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service told CNN on Sunday that the agency recently “added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail.”
Secret Service Chief of Communication Anthony Guglielmi told The Independent on Tuesday: “The Secret Service and other agencies are constantly receiving new potential threat information and taking action to adjust resources as needed. We cannot comment on any specific threat stream other than to say that the Secret Service takes threats seriously and responds accordingly.”
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
Iran has on numerous occasions said it will exact revenge for the 2020 killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani. Trump authorized the killing of Soleimani seven months before it took place and the then-president had final signoff on the strike to kill the commander, NBC noted at the time . Former top national security officials in the Trump administration have had security details since leaving their jobs.
The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against a member of the Revolutionary Guard in August 2022 for allegedly attempting to plan the assassination of former Trump national security adviser, John Bolton, which prosecutors said “likely” was part of a revenge plot in reaction to Soleimani’s killing.
Former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo was also targeted for assassination by the Iranians, CNN reported. Pompeo and former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien had security details because of the threats. O’Brien now pays for private security while Bolton still has a Secret Service detail.
US officials have been concerned for months about Iran but recent intelligence indicates that there has been a major increase in threat levels. There has been an increase in online messages from Iranian accounts as well as media backed by the state mentioning Trump, something that has also raised security concerns.
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