OAN Staff James Meyers
2:09 PM – Tuesday, August 6, 2024
The Justice Department (DOJ) has charged a Pakistani man who has alleged ties to the Iranian government that was seeking out to conduct a political assassination.
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Asif Merchant, 46, traveled to New York City and worked with a hitman to carry out the assassinations in late August or early September, federal prosecutors said in a court complaint. The complaint says the plot was intended to target high-ranking U.S. officials, potentially including former President Donald Trump.
Merchant was arrested on July 12th while preparing to leave the U.S., prosecutors said just after he met with hitmen who he believed would help carry out the murders but were actually undercover law enforcement officers. He is currently in federal custody.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly 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.”
“Working on behalf of others overseas, Merchant planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “This prosecution demonstrates that this Office and the entire U.S. Department of Justice will take swift and decisive action to protect our nation’s security, our government officials and our citizens from foreign threats.”
Merchant arrived in New York City from Texas in April with the intention of hiring a hitman to kill political figures in the U.S., prosecutors said. According to court documents, he contacted someone he believed would help him, but that person actually spoke to the FBI and began working for the agency as a confidential source.
He allegedly told the court that the “people who will be targeted are the ones who are hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world. These are not normal people.” He then asked 25 men who could perform a protest as a distraction after a murder occurred, and a woman to do “reconnaissance,” court documents state.
Additionally, Merchant met with the confidential source multiple times and stated he wanted him to do three things: steal documents or USB drives from one victim’s home, plan protests at political rallies and carry out assassinations. At one specific meeting, he allegedly told the source that the work was not a one-time opportunity and allegedly made a “finger gun” motion with his hand.
He also used coded language for communicating his plans, saying “tee-shirt” meant “protest,” which he described as the “lightest work.”
“Flannel shirt” would mean “stealing,” which was “heavier work” and the “fleece jacket,” the heaviest work, would mean “the third task . . . commit the act of the game,” indicating the assassinations.
The latest assassination plot foiled adds to another list of detailed Iranian plans to allegedly kill Trump, according to national security officials.
Concerns have been repeatedly raised by the U.S. government that Iran could retaliate for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani, a top general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by trying to kill the 45th president.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have charged other individuals for other assassination attempts in the past, which includes charges brought in 2022 against a 45-year-old Iranian national and IRGC member who allegedly tried to pay $300,000 to an individual in the U.S. to kill former national security adviser John Bolton.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the U.S. “will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
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