Iran-linked plotter who may have targeted Donald Trump arrested, charged in New York

A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was charged with murder-for-hire as part of plot to assassinate a U.S. politician or government official, potentially in response to the Trump administration's 2020 killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

Asif Merchant, 46, arrived in the U.S. around April and contacted a person he believed could help him carry out the scheme, the Department of Justice alleged. However, that person told law enforcement about Merchant's plans and became a confidential source.

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The charges, filed in a Brooklyn, New York federal courthouse in July, were revealed weeks after an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania political rally.

However, a law enforcement official said investigators so far haven't uncovered evidence linking Merchant to the Pennsylvania attack by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Merchant or an attorney for him couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

U.S. officials point to Iranian Government

Merchant allegedly met with the source in New York in early June and said the assassination plan would be ongoing, rather than just a one-time opportunity. He also laid out multiple criminal schemes, including not just a murder but also a protest and theft of documents or USB drives, according to the complaint.

Merchant told the source the targets would be people hurting Pakistan and the Muslim world, "not normal people," according to the complaint.

However, FBI special agent Anthony Cipriano, who provided an affidavit as part of the complaint, indicated he believes Merchant was shrouding the true orchestrator.

"In my training and experience, individuals engaged in plots originating overseas to commit acts of violence in the United States often obscure the sponsor or broader purpose of the plot," Cipriano said.

Cipriano noted that Iranian governmental representatives have said they want to avenge the 2020 killing of Soleimani by a Trump-ordered U.S. drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq.

In a statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray also suggested a link to the Iranian regime.

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” Wray said.

At one point, Merchant allegedly expressed an affinity for Iran and told the source the money being used for the plot was "halal," an Arabic word for "permitted."

Napkin assassination drawings and a cash advance

Merchant also quizzed the source on how to kill a target in different situations, which he drew on a napkin, according to the Justice Department. He explained there would be "security ... all around."

Merchant said he planned to leave the U.S. before the assassination attempt and communicate with the source overseas using code words, according to the complaint.

In mid-June, Merchant allegedly met with law enforcement officers pretending to be hitmen. He told them he wanted to steal documents, arrange protests at political rallies, and kill a "political person." He said they would get instructions on the target in late August or early September, after he had left the U.S.

On June 21, Merchant gave the purported hitmen $5,000 in cash as an advance payment for an assassination, according to the complaint. When an undercover officer said it was now clear they were going forward with the attack, Merchant responded: "Yes, absolutely."

Merchant allegedly made flight arrangements to leave the U.S. on July 12, and was arrested in Texas after law enforcement saw him put his luggage in a vehicle outside where he was staying that day. In a subsequent search, law enforcement found a handwritten note with his code words for communicating about the plot.

Mechant was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and has said he has wives and children in both Pakistan and Iran, according to the Justice Department. It said travel records indicate he has traveled frequently to Iran, Syria, and Iraq.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Potential Trump assassination attempt by Iran foiled as plotter charged