Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Tuesday that Saturday's assassination attempt becomes “even more telling” because U.S. authorities were reportedly aware of a suspected Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
According to multiple people familiar with the matter, intelligence provided to U.S. authorities by a private source about a suspected Iranian plot prompted the Secret Service to step up security for Trump in the weeks before the failed assassination. Said CNN. McCabe of “CNN News Central” said the apparent “mistakes” by the Secret Service that allowed Saturday's shooting are all the more remarkable given the service's knowledge of the “threat environment.” (Related: Good news for victim shot in chest and liver during assassination attempt on President Trump)
CNN said there is no known link between the Iranian plot and the attempt to assassinate President Trump on Saturday by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was grazed in the ear by a bullet while President Trump was speaking at a rally, but critics blame the incident on a failure by the Secret Service to provide security for the rally.
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Andrew McCabe says Trump assassination attempt 'even more remarkable' given Iran 'blackmail' pic.twitter.com/g92pOoYVCW
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“If this threat was communicated to the Secret Service, it certainly highlights even more the potential mistakes and lapses that we've all been talking about the last few days,” McCabe said, “because when you receive threat information like this — credible threat information like what's been reported — that's the time to step up and make sure you don't make mistakes, add resources, make sure all missions are diligently covered. If mistakes were made on Saturday, and they appear to have been, it raises even bigger questions about why something like that could happen in the current threat environment.”
It is unclear whether details of the intelligence received by US authorities have subsequently been shared with the Trump campaign, but the campaign told CNN on Tuesday that it “does not comment on security matters for President Trump.”
Crooks is accused of shooting Trump from the roof of a building less than 150 metres from where the former president was speaking. according to Crooks told the Associated Press that he shot Trump and killed spectator Corey Comperatore before being swiftly shot dead by Secret Service agents.
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