“We believe that the Iranians are attempting to kill or injure former high ranking government officials.”
This is a direct quote from Attorney General Merrick Garland from an a exclusive, lengthy interview he did with NBC News.
Garland did not specifically mention former president Donald Trump as a target during his recent interview.
But, his bombshell revelation — which he said was straight from the intelligence community — is shedding new (and terrifying) light on a simmering plot linking Iran to attempts on government officials.
Potentially including Trump!
Recently, U.S. authorities obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Trump, a development that led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president, according to multiple reports from CNN.
And while there is no official connection linking Iran to a plot to kill Trump, Garland lamented during his sit down with NBC News that he believes more attempts on U.S. officials are coming.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the end of Iran plotting, no,” said Garland.
According to the CNN report, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations denied there is an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump.
“These accusations are unsubstantiated and malicious. From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice,” a spokesperson for the mission told CNN, referencing Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by a US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.
The same CNN report stated that Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the US military’s killing of Soleimani. And former senior Trump administration officials who worked on national security have had tight security since leaving the government.
In August 2022, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against a member of the IRGC for allegedly trying to orchestrate the assassination of John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser. US prosecutors said the plot against Bolton was “likely in retaliation” for Soleimani’s assassination.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also a target of the Iranian assassination plot.
Law enforcement officials have been concerned about the threat of Iran potentially attempting to assassinate former Trump officials and the former president himself, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. But the recent intelligence suggested a significant uptick in the threat, the sources told CNN.
Warnings about that operational planning have coincided with a noticeable surge of online messaging from Iranian accounts and state-backed media mentioning Trump, which has raised security concerns among U.S. officials.
While nothing has been officially confirmed, Garland sure did raise a startling alarm — and a potential sign of things to come.
AG MERRICK GARLAND: "We believe that the Iranians are attempting to kill or injure" President Trump.
REMINDER: Harris-Biden have funded the Iranian regime with tens of billions of dollars — even as they remain the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/XoPsUHwqTE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 31, 2024