The Justice Department has charged Asif Merchant, a Pakistani, with reportedly having ties with the Iranian government and with conspiring to assassinate former President Donald Trump, along with other U.S. officials.
Merchant, who also goes by “Asif Raza Merchant,” has been charged with “murder-for-hire as part of a scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government officials on U.S. soil”, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a press release.
While Trump is not mentioned by name, ABC 7 reports that several sources close to the case told ABC News that Trump was one of the intended targets. The New York Post also had a source state that Trump was one of the targets.
According to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, the 46-year-old is accused of traveling to New York City to work with a hitman to carry out the plan in late August or early September.
A detention memo stated that Merchant went specifically to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot. The hitmen were FBI informants, according to the criminal complaint.
He paid the men $5,000 in advance to carry out the plot.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” said Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office. “This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”
Merchant was arrested on July 12 as he was planning on leaving the country. Prosecutors stated that he informed them that he had a wife and children living in Pakistan.
Prosecutors also said that Merchant called Tehran, the capital of Iran, home.
Merchant’s alleged plot was one of the reasons for the Secret Service’s increasing Trump’s security detail, which occurred a day before Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally, sources told The Post.
“The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Merchant is not affiliated with Crooks and his assassination attempt on Trump’s life. He is currently in federal custody.
