US authorities obtained information from a source in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. As a result, the Secret Service has increased security around the former president in recent weeks, they told CNN several people informed on the subject.
There is no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who tried to kill the former president on Saturday (13), is linked to the Iranian plot, the sources said.
The existence of a threat raises new questions about security lapses at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a man was able to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that injured the former president.
It is unclear whether the specifics of the Iran threat were disclosed to the Trump campaign, which said in a statement: “We do not comment on President Trump’s security details. All questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service.”
The Secret Service recently “added protective resources and capabilities to the former president’s security detail,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement Sunday.
Secret Service officials have repeatedly warned the Trump campaign against holding outdoor rallies, which pose greater risks than events for which the agency can better control access, people familiar with the matter said.
At one point during this election cycle, the campaign stopped holding spontaneous unofficial events where guests were not searched by the Secret Service beforehand due to security concerns, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The FBI, which is leading the investigation into Saturday’s attack, declined to comment.
A CNN requested a position from the Department of Homeland Security.
The permanent mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN has denied that there is an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
“These accusations are baseless and malicious. From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran chose the legal path to bring him to justice,” a mission spokesperson told CNN.
Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, 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 advisor. US prosecutors said the plot against Bolton was “likely in retaliation” for Soleimani’s assassination.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also targeted in the Iranian assassination plot, according to a federal source familiar with the investigation and a source close to Pompeo.
For months, law enforcement officials have been concerned about the persistent threat of Iran potentially trying to assassinate former Trump officials and the former president himself, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. But recent intelligence has suggested a significant increase in the threat, sources told CNN.
Warnings about operational planning coincided with a notable increase in online messages 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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