According to Former Secret Service deputy assistant director John Tomlinson, the number of threats against President Barack Obama as stated by the Washington Post is inaccurate.
In a Monday story focused on the the Secret Service’s fumbled response to a gunman hitting the White House residence in 2011, it reported that Obama has “faced three times as many threats as his predecessors, according to people briefed on the Secret Service’s threat assessment.”
Tomlinson made the comments to CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Monday afternoon.
“I appreciate the opportunity to correct that because as I’ve been told by the Secret Service recently, the information that there was a spike three times the normal threats against presidents, that information is simply inaccurate,” said Tomlinson.
Baldwin interjected, asking if his fellow Secret Service members are suggesting “the Washington Post reporting is wrong?”
“Correct,” Tomlinson responded.
“After the election of President Obama, there in fact was a spike in protective threats, but that has now leveled out to the point where it compares with other presidents before President Obama,” he responded.
“I’m sure the information is being put forward in good faith, but simply the facts don’t bare it out, and I would defer to the Secret Service to perhaps instruct whoever came up with the number to correct it so we don’t inadvertently mislead either the public or the media, or protectees,” Tomlinson added.