President Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton said the president ended his Secret Service protection shortly after his return to the White House this week.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service,” Bolton said in an emailed statement to The Hill on Tuesday. “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021.”
Bolton has been a long-standing hawk toward Iran. He served during the first Trump administration until November 2019. After leaving the administration, he received assassination threats from Iran.
The former ambassador, who since leaving the White House has become a vocal Trump critic, had his security detail rescinded by Trump during his first White House term. Former President Biden reinstated and extended the protection in 2021, Bolton said.
The Secret Service declined to comment when reached by The Hill.
An Iranian national and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in August 2022 for involvement in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Bolton.
The government put a bounty of up to $20 million for information that would end up in either the arrest or conviction of the IRGC member. The DOJ alleged in late September last year that Shahram Poursafi attempted to hire people to kill Bolton between October 2021 and April 2022. In exchange, the individual would receive $300,000.
“The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target me,” Bolton said Tuesday.
“That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump’s own assassination,” he added. “The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Tags Donald Trump Iran IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Joe Biden John Bolton Secret Service Trump administration
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