CNN
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U.S. authorities have received information from a human source in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump, a development that prompted the Secret Service to increase security around the former president, multiple insiders told CNN.
There is no evidence that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who tried to kill the former president on Saturday, had anything to do with the plot, the sources said.
The existence of the intelligence threat from a hostile foreign intelligence service — and the heightened security for Trump — raises new questions about the security lapses at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a 20-year-old man managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that wounded the former president.
A U.S. national security official said the Secret Service and Trump’s campaign were aware of the threat before Saturday’s rally.
“Secret Service learned of the increased threat from this threat stream,” the official told CNN. “NSC reached out directly to USSS at a high level to make absolutely certain they were monitoring the latest news. USSS shared this information with the detail lead and the Trump campaign was notified of a developing threat. In response to the increased threat, Secret Service increased resources and assets for the protection of former President Trump. This was all prior to Saturday.”
Trump’s campaign would not disclose whether it was aware of the Iranian threat. “We do not comment on the security of President Trump. All questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service,” the campaign said in a statement.
Secret Service officials have repeatedly warned the Trump campaign against holding outdoor rallies, which pose greater risks than events to which the agency can better control access, people familiar with the matter said. The warnings were more general in nature, the sources said.
“The Secret Service and other agencies are continually receiving new information about potential threats and are taking action to adjust resources as needed,” Anthony Guglielmi, an agency spokesman, said Tuesday. “We cannot comment on a specific threat stream, other than to say that the Secret Service takes threats seriously and responds accordingly.”
At one point during the election campaign, the campaign stopped hosting impromptu, confidential events where guests were not pre-screened by the Secret Service, for security reasons, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The FBI, which is investigating Saturday’s shooting, declined to comment.
According to NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson, there is currently no link between shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks and anyone else.
“The investigation into 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 any ties between the shooter and any accomplice or accomplice, foreign or domestic,” Watson said.
The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations denies that there is an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
“These allegations are baseless and malicious. From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished by a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice,” a spokesperson for the mission told CNN.
Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio will hold their first official campaign rally together on Saturday at an indoor arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the campaign announced Tuesday.
Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the U.S. military’s January 2020 killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And former senior Trump administration officials who handled national security issues have faced 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. U.S. prosecutors said the plot against Bolton was “likely in retaliation” for the killing of Soleimani.
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 U.S. government security detail amid threats from Iran, as did Pompeo and other former Trump officials, but that detail was cut last summer, according to sources familiar with the matter. O’Brien now pays for his own private security detail, sources said. Lawmakers were not given a specific reason for the decision, prompting frustration. O’Brien did not respond to a request for comment.
Bolton still has his Secret Service unit.
For months, law enforcement officials have been concerned about the ongoing threat that Iran might seek to assassinate former Trump officials and the former president himself, multiple sources familiar with the matter said. But recent intelligence indicated a significant increase in the threat, the sources told CNN.
Warnings about that operational planning come amid a noticeable increase in online posts from Iranian accounts and state-backed media mentioning Trump, raising security concerns among U.S. officials, one of the sources told CNN.
CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional developments.