The Biden administration obtained intelligence in recent weeks about an Iranian assassination plot against former President Donald Trump, and the information led the Secret Service to ramp up security around the former president, according to three U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
But the officials said there was no indication the plot had any link to the assassination attempt on the former president Saturday carried out by a 20-year-old American at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. U.S. investigators say the evidence so far indicates the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, acted alone.
CNN first reported on the Iranian threat.
According to Iranian state media, Iran’s mission to the United Nations dismissed the allegations of an assassination plot as “unsubstantiated and malicious.”
After learning of the heightened threat from Iran, the White House National Security Council contacted senior officials at the Secret Service “to be absolutely sure [the Secret Service officials] continued to track the latest reporting,” a national security official told NBC News.
The Trump campaign was informed about “an evolving threat,” and the Secret Service “surged resources and assets for the protection of former President Trump,” the official said. “All of this was in advance of Saturday.”
A source familiar with the conversation between the Secret Service and the Trump campaign, however, said the Trump campaign was not made aware that the threat was Iranian. "The Trump campaign was informed in passing by USSS leadership of a general uptick in threats against President Trump," said the source, "but were not made aware of any specific threats related to Iranian individuals or groups.”
A national security official did not answer when asked if the Trump campaign was made aware the threat was Iranian.
The Soleimani strike
One U.S. official said that the Iranian regime is continually plotting harm to current and former American officials and military officers. Former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook all have been provided U.S.-funded security teams, with Congress approving the funding for the added protection.
Those officials were in office when the Trump administration carried out a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020.
In rejecting accusations of the plot, according to Iranian state media, Iran's mission to the U.N. said Iran had "chosen the legal path" to bring Trump to justice, and that Trump was "a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani."
Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said the administration has been monitoring Iranian threats to former Trump administration officials “for years” and has briefed Congress about these threats.
“These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority,” Watson said in a statement.
“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.
As part of its response to the Iranian threats, the administration has “invested extraordinary resources in developing additional information about these threats, disrupting individuals involved in these threats, enhancing the protective arrangements of potential targets of these threats, engaging with foreign partners, and directly warning Iran,” Watson said.
The White House is also in regular communication with the agencies overseeing security for the targeted former Trump administration officials, she added.
