FBI reveals why Trump White House UFC event went ahead despite alleged terror plot

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE : As federal agents raced to dismantle an alleged plot targeting President Donald Trump's UFC Freedom 250 event, investigators were simultaneously making another critical determination: whether the White House event itself could safely go forward. In a Monday interview with Fox News Digital, FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia said investigators believed they had sufficiently disrupted the alleged conspiracy before the event took place, arguing that agents were monitoring suspects and knew none were in the Washington area when the UFC event was held. "We absolutely felt very comfortable moving (the UFC event) forward," Raia said. "We were confident that we had disrupted that main plot." The FBI initially arrested five people accused of participating in the plot to kill lawmakers and attendees at the June 14 event. Since then, prosecutors have publicly identified two additional defendants, raising questions about why the event was allowed to proceed while investigators continued pursuing other alleged participants. 5 CHILLING DETAILS FROM THE ALLEGED WHITE HOUSE ATTACK PLOT TIED TO UFC EVENT Raia said the additional defendants were "followers" rather than leaders of the conspiracy. "We were confident that we had the leaders, the main plotters of that, so the rest of the folks were more of the followers that you're seeing now." "There was a lot of security there," Vice President JD Vance said during a June 16 appearance on Fox News' "The Five." "And it turns out the plot was like, not that advanced. They weren't in town." The issue reportedly sparked tensions between federal agencies. Two senior U.S. officials previously told Fox News that Secret Service leadership wanted to delay publicly disclosing the investigation until additional arrests could be made, fearing that revealing the probe could alert other subjects and complicate the ongoing case. Raia said the FBI did not share those concerns, arguing that investigators were already monitoring both the alleged…