Pakistani national charged with alleged plot to assassinate Donald Trump, other public officials: DOJ
Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to find hitmen, prosecutors said.
ByAaron Katersky and Jack Date
August 6, 2024, 2:34 PM
A Pakistani national with purported ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges he plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and multiple other public officials, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court.
While the criminal complaint does not mention Trump by name, multiple sources familiar with the case told ABC News one of the intended targets of the alleged plot was Trump. Other possible targets included government officials from both sides of the aisle, the sources said.
After spending time in Iran, Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot, according to a detention memo. The person he contacted was a confidential informant working with the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Merchant, 46, is charged with murder for hire.
Asif was arrested July 12, one day prior Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot in the ear.
"For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran's brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "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."
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https://abcnews.go.com/US/pakistani-national-charged-alleged-plot-assassinate-donald-trump/story?id=112617075
