Pompeo, aide retain government funded protection due to 'serious and credible' threats

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook, who served as envoy to Iran under former President Trump, will keep their government funded protection, the Biden administration informed Congress last month. In the documents, by The Associated Press, the State Department said the two officials continue to face “serious and credible” threats that warrant protection.

The notifications were dated Dec. 19, but transmitted on Dec. 22 to Congress. Pompeo and Hook have long been the target of Iranian threats, but the notifications did not specify Iran as the source of the threats, the AP reported. The documents were signed by Deputy Secretary of State for Management Richard Verma, per the AP.

The media wire also reported that the notifications marked the 16th time the State Department had extended the protections granted to Hook after he left office in January 2021. It was also the 13th time the administration extended protections to Pompeo, who was automatically granted government security for several months after leaving office.

The two former Trump officials were the public faces of the pressure campaign against Iran after the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. They were also blamed for the assassination of Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who died in a U.S. airstrike on Jan. 3, 2020..