A complaint unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn charges Asif Merchant, 46, of Pakistan, with a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on American soil. Authorities said they foiled the plot before any violence could be attempted — in part because the people Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI agents.
According to court documents, Merchant in June met with what he thought were hit men, and told them he would have a number of assignments for them, including an assassination of targets whom he would identify later.
Merchant was arrested, according to court papers, on July 12 — one day before a 20-year-old man in Pennsylvania fired shots during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., grazing Trump’s ear. Investigators do not believe the Iranian plot and the actions by the Pennsylvania gunmen are related, according to law enforcement officials.
The alleged Iranian-backed plot, however, had raised concerns about Trump’s safety in the weeks before the shooting, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.
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