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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...

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates as more information becomes available. A package containing the deadly poison ricin addressed to President Donald Trump was intercepted by law enforcement sometime this week, before it was delivered to the president, two law enforcement officials told CNN on Saturday. Two law enforcement officials also told CNBC about the ricin package that was addressed to Trump. According to CNN, two tests were performed on the package, to confirm the presence of the deadly ricin poison, and the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged four Iranian nationals over an alleged plot to kidnap a Brooklyn-based journalist and human rights activist who published material critical of the Iranian government. A superseding indictment from the U.S. District Court from the Southern District of New York was unsealed Tuesday, revealing charges against an Iranian intelligence official, Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, as well as "Iranian intelligence assets" Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi and Omid Noori.

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...

On Tuesday, The Blaze posted extensive reports on the mass shootings in both Nevada and West Virginia. Both stories involved elements regarding the U.S. military. In Nevada, of course, many of the victims were in the National Guard. The gunman’s motives, though, are still not entirely clear. The shooter in West Virginia, who killed five people (and also an unborn fetus) in one home, seemed to voice a variety of grievances including some anger at having been rejected for military service. Shayne Riggleman’s murderous actions are getting a great deal of media attention; however, few media outlets are including Riggleman’s...

A Chinese national was arrested after multiple attempts to breach the security of Mar-a-Lago, the private club and residence of former President Donald Trump.The suspect, Zijie Li, 38, of El Monte, California, claimed to possess documents implicating the Chinese government in a recent assassination attempt on Trump.WPTV reported that Li first attempted to enter Mar-a-Lago on July 19, around 8 p.m., driving a Toyota Prius. Secret Service agents stopped him at the main gate. Li alleged he had critical information connecting China to an assassination attempt on the former president and insisted on handing over the documents. However, the Secret...

Imprisoned American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan were freed from prison in Russia Thursday as part of the largest multi-country prisoner swap since the Cold War. The Americans were among 26 prisoners from the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Russia, and Belarus freed as part of the prisoner exchange overseen by Turkish intelligence, Turkey’s presidency said. Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich spent nearly 500 days in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison alongside serial killers and other political prisoners.

President Joe Biden celebrated the end of the 'brutal ordeal' for Americans 'imprisoned unjustly' inside Russia as he announced a complex prisoner swap and then led a rendition of 'happy birthday' to the teen daughter of a freed prisoner. Biden made a surprise appearance inside the State Dining Room at the White House hours after the historic deal that freed American ex-Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. All were held inside Russia, Whelan since 2018, for 'no legitimate reason whatsoever - none,' Biden said. 'And now they're brutal ordeal is over and they're free.

Members of the local SWAT team assigned to protect former President Donald Trump at his rally on July 13 have revealed that they had no contact with the Secret Service prior to an assassination attempt on the former president. The shooting occurred on July 13 when a would-be assassin opened fire at Trump while he was addressing supporters. During an exclusive interview with ABC News’ senior investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky, the officers detailed how a lack of communication and planning failures led to a critical delay in identifying and neutralizing the threat. “They told us they had no communication with...

President Trump's former physician released a letter via his X.com account to update his prior assessment of the health of the President.10:56 AM · Jul 26, 2024·514.6KViews

Donald Trump barely survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13—a fatal headshot was missed by millimeters. The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was perched on an unprotected rooftop less than 200 yards from the rally stage. Secret Service snipers killed him during the attack. What was his motive? We don’t know the official narrative from federal authorities, which is becoming a recurring conclusion of such investigations by the FBI. Yet, a social media clue might point us in the right direction. It's a platform that has a disreputable reputation for being a haven for neo-Nazis and...

Joe Biden directed Department of Homeland Security boss Alexandro Mayorkas to assemble an “independent security review” of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13. The inclusion of Obama DHS boss Janet Napolitano ensures that this review will be anything but independent. Napolitano made her public debut in the 1991 campaign to keep Clarence Thomas off the U.S. Supreme Court. Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexually harassing her and Napolitano, then with a Phoenix law firm, represented Hill in the matter. In the confirmation proceedings, Hill’s witness Susan Hoerchner, “suddenly developed amnesia,” about parts of her story that contradicted...

Currently, Congress seems content to allow the FBI to investigate what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. This is the wrong approach. Because the government has an incentive to hide its own failures, when it comes to the attempt to assassinate Trump, especially given the U.S. Secret Service’s known failures, the must be an independent investigation. During my career, I worked several times with the United States Secret Service (“USSS”) on protective details when presidents and candidates came to our city. I believe the attempt to assassinate former President Trump was a horrific, epic failure, to say the least,...

PA State Police Commissioner Testifies on Assassination Attempt on Fmr. Pres. TrumpColonel Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, and Patrick Yoes, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, testified on the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally in Butler before the House Homeland Security Committee. For the relevant part, either search the text of the event for "afraid" or go to mark 1:48:04.This CA Democrat is saying that local officials, "electeds" as he called them, were whispering in his ear telling them that they are afraid to come forward with more information about what...

Two officers went to the lowest point of the building. One officer boosted the other high enough to reach the roof, where he saw the shooter with a weapon. Crooks turned and pointed his weapon at the officer, who then ducked and fell off the roof. "The boosting officer and the officer that fell were both on the radio indicating that there was an individual on the roof that did, in fact, have a weapon." "There was a blanket tactical channel being used. Everyone who was on that tactical channel heard it."

Breaking – Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle resigned on Tuesday morning. This is one day after her evasive and repulsive testimony before Congress and 10 days after President Trump was shot on stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Cheatle failed in her primary job – to protect the President of the United States. On Monday, Cheatle took full responsibility for the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the murder of Trump rally Corey Comperatore. Members of Congress, including Speaker Johnson, called for Cheatle to resign. Director of Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle claims she takes “full responsibility” for the failure...

GOP Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina pressed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday on reports that the Pittsburgh Secret Service field office sent four times the number of additional agents to cover a first lady Jill Biden event than to former President Donald Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot. Cheatle neither confirmed nor denied that was the case. Biden was speaking at an event at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh for approximately 300 people close to the same time Trump was speaking at his rally attended by several thousand, ... Timmons started out his...

BUTLER, Pa. – Local Pennsylvania police officers told members of Congress that they were not allowed into a Secret Service command center at former President Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, according to Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green. The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, along with other bipartisan members of the committee, on Monday morning toured the Butler Farm Show grounds area where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump over a week ago. "Normally, according to the local sheriff, they have done these events in the past with Secret Service and always had one...

Top officials at the U.S. Secret Service repeatedly denied requests for additional resources and personnel sought by Donald Trump’s security detail in the two years leading up to his attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday, according to four people familiar with the requests. Agents charged with protecting the former president requested magnetometers and more agents to screen attendees at sporting events and other large public gatherings Trump attended, as well as additional snipers and specialty teams at other outdoor events, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive security discussions. The requests,...

Secret Service officials repeatedly rejected Donald Trump’s request for additional security in the two years before last weekend’s assassination attempt, The Post has learned. The ex-president, 78, asked for more agents and magnetometers at large public events he attended, as well as extra snipers for outdoor venues, four insiders told The Washington Post, which first reported the damning revelation. Each request was shot down by senior officials who claimed the agency lacked the resources Trump was asking for, the outlet reported. Trump was receiving a LESSER level of protection afforded to former presidents and major party presidential candidates when 20-year-old...