CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild confronted U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on whether she increased “every element” of former President Trump’s security, telling the director her answer sounded “like a no.”
U.S. authorities reportedly were aware of an alleged Iran plot to kill Trump ahead of Saturday’s assassination attempt, and Secret Service ramped up protections for Trump, several people briefed on the matter told CNN. On “CNN News Central,” Wild asked Cheatle if “every element” of Trump’s security “increased” after the Secret Service became aware “of this credible threat.” (RELATED: There’s Good News For Victim Who Was Shot In Chest, Liver During Failed Trump Assassination Attempt)
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‘That Sounds Like A No’: CNN Correspondent Dubious Of Secret Service Director’s Answer On Beefing Trump Protection pic.twitter.com/mcB4Mj0xYK
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“Was every element, every part of his, from the intelligence to the counter assault team, to the detail agents, to the shift agents, I mean, every element, top to bottom, of the advance and the operation, was every element increased after you learned of this credible threat?” Wild asked.
“What we increased was what we felt was appropriate for the former president and for that particular event on that day,” Cheatle answered. “We have been increasing the assets and the resources and the staffing that we have been providing to the former president since he was a presidential candidate and then the presumptive nominee and that’s what I can tell you.”
Wild said Cheatle’s response “sounds like a no.”
“I am not saying a no at all,” Cheatle said. “I’m saying we have continued to increase the resources that we have been providing.”
There is no known link between the alleged Iranian plot and the Saturday assassination attempt on Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, according to CNN. Crooks grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet while he was speaking at his rally in Pennsylvania, leading critics to condemn the incident as a failure by the Secret Service to secure the event.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Tuesday that reported awareness of this alleged Iran plot makes Saturday’s assassination attempt “even more glaring.”
“If this threat was communicated to this Secret Service, which I have no doubt that it was, it makes the potential mistakes and missteps that we’ve all been talking about for the last few days even more glaring,” McCabe said. “Because when you receive threat intelligence like that, credible threat intelligence, which that’s what … has been reported, that is the time to step up your game and make no mistakes, to add additional resources, which it looks like they did and to make sure that every assignment is covered assiduously.”
“So it does, if there were mistakes made on Saturday, which it seems like there were, it raises even more significant questions about how that could happen under the current threat environment,” he added.
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