What has been laid out against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a sophisticated plot bordering on a spy thriller that implicates a Pakistani national in an assassination attempt.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Tuesday the charges against Asif Merchant, without mentioning Trump's name, that he had been targeted. He reiterated that the Justice Department was working for years to thwart Iran's ongoing plots for revenge against the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
It could also be that Trump himself had ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian general, in Baghdad back in 2020, while he was the sitting President.
Unsealed court documents indicate that the plot may have had other intended targets, evidenced by mention of multiple targets. "This dangerous murder-for-hire scheme, exposed in today's charges, was allegedly orchestrated by a Pakistani national with substantial ties to Iran and follows a classic Iranian style," said FBI Director Christopher Wray in an emailed statement.
The alleged plotter, Asif Raza Merchant, reportedly has families in both Pakistan and Iran. The complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, describes a plot out of the pages of a spy thriller: plans for breaking into the target's home, staging diversions like protests and rallies, and the actual execution of the assassination.
He used codenames for many things: "tee-shirt" for protests, "flannel shirt" for document theft, "fleece jacket" for assassination, and "yarn-dye" for meetings. He told an informant that his uncle was into the "yarn-dyed" business in Pakistan as a way to offer a partnership and win him over.
In fact, Merchant had sought information from whom he believed to be professional hitmen – actually undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agents – about some alternative methods through which he could carry out the assassination. The plot was foiled when Merchant tried to recruit these agents posing as assassins.
He was arrested July 12 while preparing to board a flight out of the country. He'd arrived in the US from Pakistan in April, after spending time in Iran. He had contacted an individual he believed could assist him, who reported the plot to authorities and became a confidential informant.
In mid-June, Merchant met undercover agents in New York, whom he believed were contracted killers. He gave descriptions of how documents would be stolen, protests would be arranged, and the murder of a political person. After his departure from the US, an assassination was to be made, and all the details would be known in late August or early September.
He provided a $5,000 down payment to the undercover agents. After he had made the payment, one of the agents said, "Now we know we're going forward. We're doing this," and Merchant nodded in agreement.
Political violence is a serious issue in the US. A man from Virginia has been arrested for allegedly sending threats to murder Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, apart from FBI Director Wray.
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