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Iran eyes revenge for Soleimani as WHCA Dinner shooting exposes security ‘vulnerability,’ expert warns
The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner has exposed a serious security vulnerability surrounding President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. officials, a former Defense Department intelligence officer has warned.
And with tensions between Washington and Tehran rising and ceasefire talks stalled, Andrew Badger told Fox News Digital the April 25 breach could further increase Iran’s “motivation” to target Trump and others in the administration.
“This could show that there is a vulnerability in terms of potentially accessing President Trump or senior officials,” Badger said before warning of “significant vulnerabilities.”
“When you’re looking at your adversary, and you’re seeing weakness, it also fuels motivation,” he said before claiming that “Iran has the motive to strike at senior Trump officials, including President Trump.”
“Iran, which has a demonstrated history of using criminals and proxy individuals, could certainly look at this as an opportunity.”
Chaos broke out at the Washington Hilton Hotel when a suspected gunman, identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, stormed a security checkpoint and opened fire.
Trump and other administration officials were rushed out of the ballroom as law enforcement responded. Allen is currently in custody and made an initial court appearance on Monday.
AMERICANS MUST HAVE ‘HIGHER DEGREE OF VIGILANCE’ AMID IRAN TERROR THREAT, HOUSE INTEL CHAIR WARNS
The gathering included Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, journalists and senior administration officials — a concentration of leadership that Badger said presented significant risk.
“The top three of the line of succession were at this single event,” Badger noted.
He added that “eight of the nine line-of-succession officials were at this single event,” warning of a worst-case scenario: “If this individual would have somehow worn a suicide vest, you could have eliminated all three of those individuals.”
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“Imagine if there were multiple people. Imagine if he was wearing suicide vests. Imagine if he used some type of drone,” Badger said, emphasizing the scale of potential exposure at a nonsecure venue.
The incident, he said, unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing tensions with Iran, which have escalated amid U.S. and Israeli targeting of Iranian officials and leadership.
Badger pointed to longstanding Iranian hostility tied to the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport ordered by Trump.
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“There has been a driving animus, a driving motivation in the Iranian regime — which they’ve stated publicly — to get revenge for that killing of Soleimani,” said Badger, who served on the front lines of human intelligence operations, including a 2014 deployment to Afghanistan.
After Soleimani was killed, Ayatollah Khamenei warned that those responsible for the attack would face “severe revenge,” adding that the death would strengthen and intensify resistance against the United States and Israel.
Badger warned that Iran and other adversaries have increasingly relied on unconventional tactics. “Iran and other state actors such as Russia have increasingly reverted to contracting criminals, or gangsters, to conduct hybrid warfare,” he said.
Following the incident, Trump underscored the need for more secure venues, advocating for a dedicated White House ballroom.
“It’s got every single bell and whistle you can possibly have for security and safety… It’s really what you need,” Trump said on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”
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Jimmy Kimmel remains defiant, insists ‘expectant widow’ jab against Trumps was about age difference
ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel remained defiant Monday night, insisting his now-viral “expectant widow” joke about President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump was simply about their age.
“This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm,” Kimmel said during his monologue. “I said, our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at her. So beautiful. This is from the glow. Like an expected widow, which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they were together.”
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80, and she’s younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that,” he continued. “I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the First Lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.”
DISNEY UNDER FIRE AS ABC GRAPPLES WITH ANOTHER JIMMY KIMMEL CONTROVERSY
This is a developing story.
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Watch – Dem Rep. Rosa DeLauro Blows Up at EPA Chief Lee Zeldin: ‘You Are Climate Deniers’
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) erupted in hostility toward Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on Monday over climate change.
The post Watch – Dem Rep. Rosa DeLauro Blows Up at EPA Chief Lee Zeldin: ‘You Are Climate Deniers’ appeared first on Breitbart.
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Kentucky man credits Younghoe Koo’s embarrassing botched field goal attempt with saving his life
One of the worst moments in Younghoe Koo’s NFL career last season may have saved a man’s life.
At least that’s how it seems if you hear Mark Toothaker describe what happened to him when he was home with his wife last December watching Monday Night Football as the New York Giants played the New England Patriots.
In the second quarter of the game, Koo, kicking for the Giants, suffered a terrible, funny, awful, embarrassing moment when he abruptly decided not to follow through on a field goal attempt and the play turned into a Keystone Cops moment on national television.
Perhaps like many fans who witnessed the play, Toothaker began laughing at Koo’s expense. But suddenly, unexpectedly, the laughter turned into a crisis when it brought on a violent seizure.
And that led to things, which led to things, which Toothaker believes saved his life.
“(The) kicker saved my life because it could’ve happened any other time,” Toothaker told The Associated Press. “I wholeheartedly believe I was in the right spot at the right time, and he was the trigger for that happening. It was a miracle.”
Toothaker sees a miracle in Koo’s aborted kick and his medical emergency , which he likens to getting “electrocuted” because his wife immediately called 911. When paramedics arrived, they whisked him to the hospital.
A CT scan revealed a tennis-ball-sized tumor on the left side of Toothaker’s brain. So, yes, serious stuff manifesting after laughter
“When you hear the news, ‘You’ve got a brain tumor,’ that’s what nobody wants to hear,” said Malory Toothaker, who happens to be a nurse who works with brain-injury patients.
Toothaker was transferred to the University of Kentucky’s hospital, where the tumor was surgically removed. It turned out to be benign, according to The Associated Press.
CHARGERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OBSCURE NFL RULE WITH FREE KICK FIELD GOAL LAST SUCCESSFUL IN 1976
Toothaker was home by the end of the week with no lasting damage and and he continues working at Spendthrift Farm whose thoroughbred Further Ado will race in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Toothaker, 59, said he had no symptoms and no idea the tumor had pushed his brain six millimeters to the right as it grew. All Toothaker knows for sure is that his job as stallion season manager requires he drive and fly all around the country.
And if that seizure had hit when he was in the air or behind the wheel, a cool story might have a different ending.
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“I could have had it on a plane, anywhere,” Toothaker said. “I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t run over a family in my Expedition running up and down the road. I guess that would’ve been the hardest thing for me to live with if somebody would’ve got hurt out of this.
“Believe me, as tough as that thing was, as violent as that seizure was, I have no memory of it and I would find it hard to believe that I wouldn’t have hurt somebody or hurt myself if I would’ve been behind a wheel.”
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Toothaker’s good fortune was part of Koo’s undoing.
He was released by the Giants after a Week 15 loss to the Washington Commanders when he missed two field goals. The memory of the botched attempt against the Patriots definitely didn’t help his cause, either, as the team decided his fate.
Fox News attempted to contact Koo for this story but he did not return a message.
“I know it wasn’t his best moment, but it was beyond crazy,” Toothaker said. “For [Malory] and I to be belly-laughing at his expense, which I feel terrible about now, but it all worked out in the end, that for me it couldn’t have been at a better moment.”
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