Wow, this makes the security breakdown all the more shocking:
CNN —
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 told CNN.
There’s
no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill the former president on Saturday, 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.
It’s not clear whether the specifics of the Iran threat were shared with the Trump campaign, which said in a statement: “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. 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 spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on Sunday.
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.