Asif Merchant, a citizen of Pakistan, has been accused by federal officials of participating in a plot to kill former US President Donald Trump, according to CNN. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has released a comprehensive lawsuit that outlines Merchant’s intricate plot to assassinate Trump and other prominent American politicians. The complaint reads like a screenplay from a Hollywood production.
Merchant, whose real name is Asif Raza Merchant, is charged with planning to kill someone for money. The 46-year-old, who is connected to Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran, allegedly planned the scheme from abroad and came to the United States to find hitmen.
The FBI claims that after Merchant’s flight from Pakistan to Houston, Texas, in April 2024, the plot started to take shape. He contacted a confidential source posing as a business opportunity, who then informed law authorities of the illicit operation. Then, two undercover law enforcement agents acting as hitmen were presented to Merchant by this source.
During a series of surreptitious meetings in New York, Merchant made his sinister plans known. He purportedly made a $100,000 offer for the murder of Trump and other government leaders, outlining a complex scheme that included protests, theft, and murder. “The ones who are hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world” are the targets, according to what Merchant allegedly told the undercover agents. The merchant used several cell phones and coded language as part of his careful preparation to stay undercover.
NEW: DOJ announces it has charged a Pakistani national w/ ties to Iran in a plot to assassinate current & former US government officials on US soil in retaliation for the Soleimani killing. DOJ says Asif Merchant flew to the US in April after spending time in Iran, then traveled… pic.twitter.com/Hjp0L90BVT
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 6, 2024
He described the assassination as “heavy work,” discussing the financial transactions and murder plot using terms like “yarn-dye” and “fleece jacket.” His sly wording and strategies reveal a deep comprehension of operational security and tradecraft. According to reports, Merchant made a big step in carrying out his proposal in June 2024.
He met with the undercover agents in Manhattan after conferring with the confidential source in a hotel in Nassau County, providing $5,000 in cash as advance payment for the hit. He made arrangements for the informal “hawala” system of money transmission, promising the officials more to come. Following an FBI inquiry, it was discovered that Merchant’s plan was a component of a bigger operation that may have been planned by US enemies.
The complaint implies a more significant geopolitical motivation for Merchant’s actions by citing prior Iranian threats against American officials. On July 12, 2024, federal agents’ months-long covert operation came to an end with Merchant’s arrest. When he was preparing to leave the country, authorities caught him and discovered a handwritten note in his wallet that included the coded language he was using to discuss the operation.
No connections have been found between Merchant and the most recent incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry who spoke with CNN. U.S. authorities affirm that Merchant has been cooperating with the inquiry since his apprehension and that the FBI is certain that they foiled Merchant’s purported plot well in advance. Officials said that the FBI passed on vital intelligence to the Secret Service regarding Iran’s threats against the former president Trump, which led to increased security measures for him. The United States administration has consistently expressed apprehensions that Iran could exact revenge for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that demolished General Qasem Soleimani, a prominent official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
