Associated Press
President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump on Monday ousted the head of the Secret Service and named Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization, prompting a retaliatory move from Iran’s top security council.
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Randolph Alles
ALLES OUT, MURRAY IN AT SECRET SERVICE
The White House announced Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles would be “leaving shortly,” and that Trump had chosen agency veteran James Murray to head it starting in May.
CNN and NBC reported that Trump ousted Alles, who reports to departing Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen resigned Sunday amid growing pressure from Trump. Alles’ departure stems from a personality conflict within the agency, the Associated Press reported, citing unnamed officials.
A source told CNN that Alles’ ouster was unrelated to the recent scrutiny the Secret Service got after a Chinese woman illegally entered Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club carrying Chinese passports and a flash drive containing malware. But it comes as Trump has sought to toughen his policies at the southern border in recent weeks, and as other officials including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Francis Cissna are expected to soon be gone.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Alles to testify “as soon as possible” about the potential security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago.
Now see: Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen resigns at Trump focuses on border.
IRAN PRESSURE
Trump said in a statement that those doing business with the IRGC “will be bankrolling terrorism,” as he announced the designation intended to squeeze the group’s financial resources.
Under the designation those dealing with the Revolutionary Guard runs the risk of facing criminal charges. The administration says Monday’s action was the first time the U.S. had declared an element of a foreign government to be a terrorist organization.
In response, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council labeled U.S. military forces a terrorist organization, according to Iran’s state-run TV.
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