Pakistani national with ties to Iran charged in alleged Trump assassination plot

A Pakistani national with ties to the Iranian government was arrested in July in connection with an alleged plot to kill American politicians and officials, according to the Department of Justice on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Multiple sources said one of the main targets was former President Donald Trump.

Asif Merchant, 46, is charged with murder for hire after DOJ officials said he flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen for the plot. They said one of the so-called “hitmen” he contacted was a confidential informant for the FBI. 

“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. “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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Trump’s security was increased in June after authorities learned of an Iranian plot to kill him. This was before the assassination attempt at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally and is not related to those events, according to the FBI. 

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s charges allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”  

Merchant was arrested on July 12 — one day before Trump was shot at that rally.