President Donald Trump withdrew security protection for his onetime secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, as well as a former senior adviser, Brian Hook, even though the Biden administration had cautioned that both men continued to face threats from Iran due to steps they took on Trump’s behalf, according to four individuals familiar with the matter Thursday.
During Trump’s initial term, Pompeo and Hook played key roles in the administration’s hardline approach to Iran, most notably the drone strike that eliminated influential Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in early 2020.
That strike has also left Trump himself at risk, with his advisers consistently emphasizing the seriousness of the situation throughout the intervening years between his two presidential administrations.
According to one individual briefed on the situation, Pompeo and Hook saw their security details—reportedly supplied by the State Department—withdrawn on Tuesday. The previous day, Trump also ended U.S. Secret Service protection for John Bolton, his third national security adviser, who likewise faces ongoing threats.
Outside of former presidents and their partners, senior American officials do not automatically receive continued protection. However, intelligence analyses indicating that Pompeo, Hook, and Bolton still faced substantial danger had led the Biden administration to approve their protective details.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the Biden administration quietly informed the new Trump administration about the persistent Iranian threats directed at former Trump officials such as Pompeo, Hook, and Bolton.
Bolton stated that he was personally alerted to these threats by Biden’s team.
“As recently as the end of last week, two separate government representatives, two separate government agencies called,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “They said our current assessment is that the threat level remains the same.”
Neither a Trump representative nor a State Department official promptly answered requests for comment. A spokesperson for Pompeo declined to comment. Hook declined to comment.
Bolton departed the first Trump administration under contentious circumstances, penned a revealing account of his time in the White House, and has harshly criticized Trump. However, it remains uncertain why the president would decide to strip Pompeo and Hook of their security details, given their past support for him.
Trump has reportedly informed those close to him that he does not want individuals who served under Pompeo during his initial presidency to be part of his new team. Just days ago, he rescinded Hook’s appointment to the Wilson Center for Scholars through a social media announcement.
{Matzav.com}