On Tuesday, a court document released by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that a Pakistani citizen with ties to the Iranian government has been charged with attempting to carry out assassination operations against current and former American officials, including former President Trump. The FBI stated that this assassination plot was “directed by a foreign entity.”
According to a criminal indictment released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday, 46-year-old Pakistani man Asif Merchant is accused of traveling to New York to collaborate with a professional hitman in planning to assassinate American officials at the end of August or the beginning of September.
While the criminal charges did not mention Trump by name, sources familiar with the case informed major media outlets such as ABC News and CNN that Trump was one of the intended targets of these assassination attempts, along with officials from both political parties.
After spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the U.S. from Pakistan around April this year and contacted an individual whom he believed could assist him in carrying out the assassination plan. This person reported Merchant’s actions to law enforcement and became a confidential informant.
Christie Curtis, Acting Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s New York Field Office, stated on Tuesday, “Fortunately, the hitman Merchant tried to hire was an undercover FBI agent.”
In mid-June, Merchant met with the supposed hitman, who was actually an undercover agent, and with the help of an accomplice overseas, paid a $5,000 down payment.
As per the plan, the hitman was supposed to receive instructions on who to assassinate in the last week of August or the first week of September after Merchant had left the U.S.
The would-be assassin then booked a flight to leave the U.S. on July 12. However, law enforcement officials arrested him on July 12 before he could leave the country.
Merchant is currently detained in New York. He mentioned having a wife and children in Iran and another wife and children in Pakistan.
In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the U.S. “will not tolerate attempts by authoritarian regimes to target U.S. public officials and endanger national security.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray also expressed in a statement that foreign-directed assassination attempts pose a threat to U.S. national security, and the FBI will use all its power and resources to combat such actions.
On July 13, the day after Merchant’s arrest, a failed assassination attempt occurred against Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old gunman shot him in the upper part of his right ear.
An official told CNN that investigators did not find any evidence linking Merchant to the Butler shooting incident.