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A Pakistani man with ties to Iran totally botched a plot to assassinate Donald Trump. The feds announced charges on Tuesday. Now, we know why everyone’s been talking about a potential Iranian connection to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who took his best shot at Trump on July 13.
Plot gets hijacked
Apparently, the FBI hijacked a terror plot. They haven’t been accused of recruiting Asif Merchant directly but it can’t be totally ruled out, either. The Just Us Department is pressing charges against “a Pakistani man who has alleged ties to the Iranian government.”
He came here specifically to “carry out political assassinations.” He made the mistake of trying to hire local hitmen.
If the Pakistani instigator had been properly trained, the plot might have been successful. It also would have helped if his pre-arranged contact here in the states didn’t go running straight to the feds.
WOW. Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national was arrested for attempting to hire a hitman for planned ass*ss*nat*on against President Trump. pic.twitter.com/2dckcGDVEO
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 6, 2024
He may have been with the feds in the first place but the Federal Bureau of Instigation isn’t admitting that. Charges were filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York.
The DOJ admitted, in documents unsealed on August 6, that this particular plot “prompted the U.S. government to increase security for former President Donald Trump and other officials.” The 46-year-old terrorist “is accused of traveling to New York City and working with a hit man to carry out the assassinations in late August or early September.”
They arrested him the day before Trump was shot, July 12. They surprised him with a set of handcuffs as Merchant was “preparing to leave the United States.” He was supposed to make the arrangements and split.
Undercover law enforcement
Merchant is a Pakistani national who “spent time in Iran and has family there.” In April, he flew into New York City expecting to make contact with “someone who he believed would assist him in the murder-for-hire plot.” His contact was a rat. “That person, however, contacted the FBI and began working for investigators as a confidential source.”
Then again, that person may already have been an agent or asset. The CIA might have given Merchant’s Iranian handlers an FBI contact number when they ordered his services. It might even be the same insider who planted a bomb in the Hamas commander’s bedroom.
Merchant made contact with the informant in early June. The contact was to provide “people in New York to do three things: steal documents or USB drives from one victim’s home, plan protests at political rallies and carry out assassinations.”
🚨BREAKING: Pakistani national with ties to Iran charged in connection to a foiled assassination plot targeting President Trump.
Asif Merchant (46) is accused of traveling to NYC and collaborating with a hit man to execute the assassinations in late August, according to charges… pic.twitter.com/XdH4OxURVj
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) August 6, 2024
The terrorist made clear that the (“finger gun” motion with his hand) “was not a one-time opportunity.” When his contact didn’t sound like one of his usual plot collaborators, the visiting terrorist started to get a little anxious.
As the meeting progressed, Merchant wasn’t hearing reassuring things back from his supposedly vetted contact. He mentioned a “party” back home “with whom he was working, and started planning potential scenarios.” He got a blank look back. That’s when he asked his agent “to explain how a person with ‘security’ that was ‘all around’ would die.” The professional must have been satisfied with the answer. The feds got it all on tape.
Later in June, “Merchant met with law enforcement officers working undercover as hitmen.” They were to kill a “political person in late August or early September.” They each got “a $5,000 advance” on their part of the assassination plot.
