Trump’s security was beefed up weeks ago because of Iran’s plot to assassinate him
Donald Trump’s protection was stepped up weeks ago after the US government learned of an Iranian plot to assassinate him, according to national security officials.
Officials said there was no connection between the Iranian plot and Saturday’s assassination of the former president in Pennsylvania.
However, the revelation that security had been tightened raised further questions about how Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was able to climb the building and get close enough to shoot Trump.
The US Secret Service and the Trump campaign were briefed on the threat from Iran and security was stepped up afterward, according to a US national security official.
Intelligence sources told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, that the Secret Service beefed up security in June in response to the threat from Iran. This included counter-intelligence and counter-sniper agents, drones and robot dogs.
Details of a potential Iranian operation were gathered through “human intelligence sources,” CBS reported, and come amid growing talk of Iran planning attacks on Trump.
Trump and officials including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have faced threats from Tehran since ordering the drone assassination of Qassim Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, in Iraq in 2020.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the US Secret Service, said the agency and other agencies “continuously receive information about new potential threats and take action to adjust resources as necessary.”
“We cannot comment on any specific threats, other than to say that the Secret Service takes threats seriously and responds accordingly.”
The Trump campaign said it did not comment on security matters and referred BBC questions to the Secret Service.
Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said US security officials have “been monitoring Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years.”
“These threats are based on Iran’s desire for revenge for the killing of Soleimani,” she said. “We view this as a matter of national security and homeland security of the utmost priority.”
However, she reiterated that the investigation “has not identified a link” between Crooks and “any co-defendants or conspirators, whether foreign or domestic”.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations called the report “baseless and malicious”, adding that Trump “is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in court”.
In 2022, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accusing him of orchestrating a plot to assassinate Mr. Bolton.
Prosecutors said the plot “may have been in retaliation” for the killing of Soleimani.
Questions have been raised about how the police and agents responsible for the protest at the Butler County, Pennsylvania, fairgrounds allowed Crooks to get so close.
The Secret Service director admitted that local police were inside the building when Crooks was on the roof and aimed at Trump from 130m (430ft) away.
CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that three local police snipers were inside the building and saw Crooks go up to the roof.
The local police department referred the BBC’s questions to the state police, who said they were not responsible for the area where the building is located.
A state police spokesman told the BBC they had provided “all resources” requested by the Secret Service, including 30 to 40 police officers to guard the area.
President Joe Biden has ordered an independent investigation into how the gunman came so close to killing Trump, and the Secret Service is also facing congressional inquiries.
