Free Republic

The FBI allowed Asif Raza Merchant, the Pakistani man charged with plotting with Tehran to assassinate Donald Trump and others, to enter the U.S. in April with special permission known as “significant public benefit parole” even though he was flagged on a terrorism watchlist and recently traveled to Iran, according to government documents reviewed by Just the News. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Merchant, fingerprinted him and inspected the contents of his electronic devices when he arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, but then let him leave with the special parole that expired on May...

The Defendant Allegedly Traveled to New York City to Hire Hitmen to Murder a Politician or U.S. Government Official on U.S. SoilEarlier today, a complaint was unsealed in Brooklyn charging Asif Merchant, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, 46, with murder-for-hire as part of an alleged scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil. Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out. Merchant is in federal custody.“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...

The FBI is claiming to have foiled a sophisticated Iran-sponsored terror plot, in which a Pakistani was attempting to hire hitmen to carry out political assassinations on U.S. soil. But the court records show that the “hitmen” were, in fact, undercover FBI agents. The case looks similar to the supposed 2022 Iran plot to kill former national security adviser John Bolton. In that case, the FBI claimed that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force tried assassinating Bolton—but the Iranian was never confirmed to be an IRGC-QF member, and the “assassin” he was trying to hire was an...

A federal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Brooklyn has charged Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant,” a 46-year-old Pakistani national, with murder-for-hire in connection with a foiled assassination plot targeting a politician or U.S. government officials on American soil. The plot was thwarted by law enforcement before any attack could be executed. Merchant is currently in federal custody in New York, according to the press release. FBI investigators believe that the intended targets of the plot included Trump and other current and former U.S. government officials, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter, per CNN. According...