Ex-federal law enforcement officials, Republicans call for more Trump protection after second assassination attempt
Former federal lawmen and current members of Congress agreed Monday that former President Donald Trump deserves enhanced Secret Service protection one day after he dodged a second assassination attempt in 64 days.Former Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan told The Post that Trump, 78, required a boosted security detail given the severity of the threats he faces — including a foiled assassination plot by a suspected Iranian agent — and insisted that the Department of Homeland Security is more than able to provide that defense.“The resources dedicated to his protection should be commensurate with the threats,” said Morgan, who spent nearly two decades in the FBI before serving with the US Border Patrol and CBP.“And I would say the same thing, regardless [of] whether it was [former] President [Bill] Clinton or former President [Barack] Obama.”“When there’s something that clearly is a failure, the go-to is always, ‘Well, let’s just throw more money, more people at it,'” he added.
“And oftentimes in government, that’s actually not the answer.”“The US Secret Service should unilaterally increase Donald Trump’s protection based on his threat level rather than using old rules of a protectee’s status on paper,” echoed former Department of Homeland Security acting deputy chief of staff Lora Ries.“Trump is perhaps the most threatened person in the world, with threats from both domestic and foreign adversaries, including an Iranian assassination plot to avenge the death of Iran General [Qassem] Soleimani during Trump’s presidency,” Ries said.“He should be protected to the maximum level based on that threat.
If the Secret Service can’t or won’t provide such thorough protection, Trump should use private security.”Members of Congress were also united in calling for the swift enactment of increased security protocols in the wake of the alleged plot of Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, to kill Trump at his namesake golf club...