The agencies of US intelligence obtained information about an Iranian plot to assassinate former president and Republican candidate, Donald Trump (2017-2021), weeks before last Saturday’s attack, sources familiar with the matter confirmed.
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These sources, however, stressed that there is no link between this Iranian plan and the attempted assassination of Trump, occurred on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old man shot the former president, wounding him in the ear and killing one of the attendees at the event.
Donald Trump injured in Pennsylvania
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Although there is no apparent connection, at the time of Saturday’s attack, The Secret Service had reinforced the former president’s security precisely because of those threats from Iran, detailed these sources.
So the question now is why those additional measures that were put in place because of the Iranian plot failed to prevent the attacker, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, from getting onto a roof. and fired several shots before being shot dead by Secret Service agents.
According to a senior national security official who spoke to Efe, upon detecting the threat, the White House alerted both the Trump campaign and the Secret Service, which took additional measures to protect the former president, of the added danger.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told Efe that Iran has been threatening US officials for years in revenge for the attack Trump ordered in 2020 and which ended the life of General Qasem Soleimani, former head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The former Republican president arrived at his party’s convention in Milwaukee.
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Because of those threats, former senior Trump administration officials involved in that operation still have bodyguards. They include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton.
We have been following Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years
“As we have said on numerous occasions, we have been following Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years. These threats stem from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the death of Qasem Soleimani. We consider this a matter of national security of the highest priority,” Watson said.
The spokeswoman also said that no link had been identified between the man who shot Trump and other possible foreign agents.
According to the FBI, which is leading the investigation, The attacker acted alone and used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that had been legally purchased by his father.
Republican candidate Donald Trump with blood on his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents.
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The Secret Service is currently under great scrutiny for failures that may have occurred and allowed a 20-year-old to try to assassinate Trump, the first such incident since the one suffered by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Local police were present in this area
The US government announced that it will conduct an independent investigation into the failures and has also strengthened its security measures.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle took responsibility for the incident in an interview broadcast Monday on ABC.
But he confirmed that the building where the attacker was located was located on the “outer perimeter” of the rally, under the responsibility of local police and not the Secret Service.
“Local police were present in this area,” he said, without explaining how the shooter had managed to climb onto the roof unhindered.
During a presidential campaign, the Secret Service uses “the resources of not only the federal government, but also state and local law enforcement,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday.
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