Secret Service boosted Trump’s security after Iranian assassination plot weeks before rally shooting

The Secret Service had increased security around Donald Trump after learning of an Iranian plot to assassinate him, just weeks before he was shot at his campaign rally.

No connection has been found between the Iran plot and Saturday evening’s shooter, 20-year-old nursing home worker Thomas Matthew Crooks, according to CNN.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN they have found no link so far between Crooks “and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic.”

But the rally shooting has put the spotlight on the Secret Service and how the gunman was able to access a rooftop close enough to allow him to hit the former president.

Trump was struck in his right ear but survived. A 50-year-old former fire chief, Corey Comperatore, was killed and two other men injured. Crooks was killed by a sniper shortly after he opened fire.

The Secret Service has cautioned the Trump campaign against holding rallies outdoors, according to CNN. The campaign previously stopped conducting events where guests weren’t swept by the Secret Service beforehand.

A national security official told CNN that the Secret Service was aware of the threat before the rally on Saturday. The Trump campaign was “made aware of an evolving threat” and the Secret Service “surged resources” to protect Trump before Saturday.

“We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service,” the Trump campaign told CNN in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Secret Service told CNN on Sunday that the agency recently “added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail.”

Secret Service Chief of Communication Anthony Guglielmi told The Independent on