WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has government security protection revoked for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, who faces threats from Iran since taking a hard line on the Islamic Republic during the first Trump administration.
A member of Congress and a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss personal security details, confirmed the change, but neither could provide an explanation. They said Pompeo and Hook were informed of the loss of protection on Wednesday and it took effect at 11 p.m. that evening.
It’s another sign of the steps Trump is taking just days after returning to the White House to target those he perceived as adversaries.
A day earlier, Trump, a Republican, revoked the security clearance and Secret Service protection of John Boltonwho was fired as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term. Bolton then wrote a book whose publication the White House unsuccessfully tried to block on the grounds that it disclosed national security information. Bolton, who was the target of assassination by Iran, said in a statement that he was disappointed but not surprised by the decision.
Trump too security clearances revoked for dozens of former intelligence officials who signed a 2020 letter saying that The Hunter Biden Laptop Saga bore the hallmarks of a “Russian information operation”.
Trump had soured on Pompeo a few months ago, publicly saying he would play no role in his new administration. In a social media post this week, he fired Hook from his presidentially appointed position on the board of directors of the Wilson Center, a think tank.
White House officials did not respond to a request for comment on the revocation of Pompeo and Hook’s security protections.
Trump earlier this week defended his decision to remove Bolton’s security, while disparaging his former aide as a “very stupid person.”
“We’re not going to keep people safe for the rest of their lives,” Trump said. “Why should we do it?”
A representative for Pompeo did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Hook has not responded to multiple voice and text messages from the AP since Bolton was stripped of his protection Tuesday.
The New York Times was the first to report the loss of protections.
The Biden administration’s State Department had provided and then systematically renewed 24-hour Diplomatic Security Service protection to Pompeo and Hook since January 21, 2021, when they left office with Trump. The last authorization of this type dates back to October 21.
Pompeo and Hook were the public faces of the US “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran following Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, which offered relief from sanctions in exchange for a drastic limitation of its nuclear program. And Iran blamed both for the assassination of the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020.
According to a report submitted to Congress in March 2022, the State Department said it paid more than $2 million a month to provide 24-hour security for Pompeo and Hook. But subsequent determinations did not given dollar amount.
In those notices, the State Department told lawmakers that the threats against Pompeo and Hook remained “serious and credible” and continued to warrant government-provided security details.
Biden administration officials briefed Trump officials earlier this month on the continuing threat Iran poses to Pompeo, Hook, Bolton and others and why the administration had extended the security details regarding them, according to a former senior Biden administration official familiar with the matter.
The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the private briefing, said Trump administration officials were “well aware” of “active threats” against former government officials and called the move of “highly irresponsible”.
