Now We're Learning of in Iranian Plot ot Assassinate Trump

U.S. intelligence uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump weeks before the attempt on his life last Saturday, according to several media sources. In response to the threat, gleaned through a human intel asset, the Secret Service increased Trump's security. 

I have no doubt the threat was real. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been issuing threats against Trump since the U.S. pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018. But if the report is true and Thomas Crooks was still able to climb atop a roof 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking and get off at least 10 rounds, then the Secret Service is in far worse condition than we have imagined.

President Biden's National Security Council contacted the Secret Service to be sure it was tracking the threat and shared the information with the head of Trump's security detail.

And Thomas Crooks, a known "person of suspicion" to the Secret Service, was still able to climb atop a roof 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking and get off at least 10 rounds.

While the Secret Service was aware of the threat, the Trump campaign remained in the dark.

New York Times:

The Trump campaign was informed “in passing” by the Secret Service of a general uptick in threats against Mr. Trump but was not made aware of any specific dangers related to Iranian individuals or groups, according to a person briefed on the interactions between the campaign and Secret Service. It was not clear what, if anything, Mr. Trump himself was told.

The intelligence that prompted the warning was new, but consistent with previous threat information against lower-level current and former U.S. officials, according to officials informed about the matter. The intensifying campaign season, with increasingly frequent public rallies, offered more opportunities for an attack. Several national security officials said that although the threat was taken seriously, it did not appear from the intelligence to be fully developed.

“Secret Service learned of the increased threat from this threat stream,” one official told CNN. “NSC directly contacted USSS at a senior level to be absolutely sure they continued to track the latest reporting. USSS shared this information with the detail lead, and the Trump campaign was made aware of an evolving threat. In response to the increased threat, Secret Service surged resources and assets for the protection of former President Trump. All of this was in advance of Saturday.” 

If this is true, I can't wait for the congressional hearing to find out what that "surge" entailed. How many agents? What kind of resources? 

Iran has been itching for revenge against Trump for ordering the drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani in Baghdad in 2020. Trump isn't the only American official in the Iranian crosshairs. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton had also received threats and were given security details after they left office.

Questions upon questions are piling up about the incompetence, stupidity, carelessness, and mismanagement that led to this assassination attempt that didn't have to happen. But ultimately, the fault for this extraordinary failure lies with the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. She entered the job with no management experience, and her only recommendation was her close relationship with First Lady Jill Biden.

Ever since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Secret Service had worked to neutralize any elevated threats to a candidate or president. They did it with sheer manpower, "flooding the zone" to get as many bodies as possible looking for threats.

What we will hear during the Congressional hearings beginning next week is that the Secret Service has been overextended. In addition to the protection details, the Secret Service also goes after counterfeiters and other currency criminals. Recently, they've been given the additional responsibility of "Combatting the Illegal Use of Digital Assets" or crypto-currency.

The Secret Service is a tiny agency with 3,200 special agents and 1,300 Uniformed Division officers. Something is going to have to change, starting with getting rid of the affirmative action hire Kimberly Cheatle.