A Pakistani national with ties to the Iranian government was arrested and charged with plotting a murder-for-hire scheme targeting U.S. government officials and politicians, according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday.
The man, 46-year-old Asif Merchant, is accused of planning to assassinate current and former government officials across the political spectrum, including former President and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to multiple sources familiar investigation.
Intelligence about Merchant’s alleged plot was prominent in the information that prompted the U.S. Secret Service to further increase security assets for the former president in recent weeks, the sources said.
Although the timing of the charges coincides with the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, there is no indication that Merchant’s plan of attack is at all related to that shooting.
“Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out. Our ongoing investigation has not found evidence that this defendant (Merchant) had any connection to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania,” a law information official said in a statement to CBS News.
U.S. intelligence officials and law enforcement have been investigating numerous threat streams from Iran to politicians and government officials dating back to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani during the Trump administration.
