US authorities obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Donald Trump, a development that led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president in recent weeks, multiple people briefed on the matter have told CNN.
There’s no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill the former president on Saturday (early Sunday AEST), was connected to the plot, the sources said.
The existence of the intelligence threat from a hostile foreign intelligence agency — and the enhanced security for Trump — raises new questions about the security lapses at the Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a 20-year-old man managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that injured the former president.
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A US national security official said the Secret Service and Trump campaign were made aware of the threat before Saturday’s rally.
“Secret Service learned of the increased threat from this threat stream,” the official told CNN.
“NSC directly contacted USSS at a senior level to be absolutely sure they continued to track the latest reporting. USSS shared this information with the detail lead, and the Trump campaign was made aware of an evolving threat. In response to the increased threat, Secret Service surged resources and assets for the protection of former President Trump. All of this was in advance of Saturday.”
The Trump campaign would not disclose whether it was made aware of the Iran threat.
“We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service,” the campaign said in a statement.
The Secret Service recently “added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail”, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on Sunday.
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Secret Service officials have warned the Trump campaign repeatedly against holding outdoor rallies, which pose greater risks than events to which the agency can better control access, people briefed on the matter said. The warnings have been more general in nature, the sources said.
At one point during this election cycle, the campaign stopped holding spontaneous off-the-record events where guests weren’t swept by Secret Service beforehand due to security concerns, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The FBI, which is conducting the investigation into Saturday’s shooting, declined to comment.
NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said there’s no known link between shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks and anyone else at the moment.
“The investigation of Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Trump is active and ongoing. At this time, law enforcement has reported that their investigation has not identified ties between the shooter and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic,” Watson said.
CNN has requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security and the Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
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Surge of threats from Iranian state-backed media
Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the US military’s killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020. And former senior Trump administration officials who worked on national security have had tight security since leaving the government.
In August 2022, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against a member of the IRGC for allegedly trying to orchestrate the assassination of John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser. US prosecutors said the plot against Bolton was “likely in retaliation” for Soleimani’s assassination.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also a target of the Iranian assassination plot, according to a federal law enforcement source familiar with the investigation and a source close to Pompeo.
Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, had a US government security detail due to threats from Iran, like Pompeo and other former Trump officials, but that detail was dropped last summer, according to sources familiar with the matter.
O’Brien is now paying for his own private security detail, sources said. Lawmakers were not given a specific reason for the decision, which led to frustration. O’Brien did not respond to a request for comment.
Bolton still has his Secret Service detail.
For months, law enforcement officials have been concerned about the persistent threat of Iran potentially attempting to assassinate former Trump officials and the former president himself, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. But the recent intelligence suggested a significant uptick in the threat, the sources told CNN.
Warnings about that operational planning have coincided with a noticeable surge of online messaging from Iranian accounts and state-backed media mentioning Trump, which has raised security concerns among US officials, one of the sources told CNN.
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