Iranian agent allegedly sought murder of U.S. politician

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday unsealed a criminal complaint alleging that Asif Merchant attempted to hire hitmen to murder a U.S. politician. The FBI did not name the politician or official whose killing Merchant allegedly sought. Merchant, a Pakistani national, came to the United States after spending time in Iran, according to the complaint. Authorities arrested Merchant on July 12, 2024.

Is this related to other known assassination attempts? U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland told a gathering of law enforcement officials in Iowa on Tuesday that there was no link between Merchant and the would-be assassin who targeted former President Donald Trump last month. Federal investigators had not found any individuals, either foreign or domestic, who assisted 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks with his attempted assassination of Trump on July 13, Garland said.

What exactly is Merchant accused of doing? After arriving in the United States in April, Merchant met with an unnamed individual and explained a plan he had to assassinate a U.S. politician, the complaint said. However, the individual became a confidential informant for law enforcement. Merchant further outlined his plans to the informant in June, according to the complaint, which was unsealed in Brooklyn.

Merchant instructed the informant to hire individuals in Brooklyn who could break into and steal documents from a targeted individual’s home, stage a political protest, and kill the politician in question, according to the complaint. He did not identify the targeted individual or the politician, according to the complaint. 

Later, Merchant met with federal agents pretending to be hitmen and told them about his plan, according to the complaint. He said they would receive instructions about who to kill in late August or early September. Merchant then began scrounging up $5,000 to pay the fake hitmen in advance. He eventually received money from an individual located overseas. He again met with the agents pretending to be the killers-for-hire and paid them. Following the meeting, Merchant made arrangements to leave the United States, according to the complaint. Authorities nabbed him the day he was scheduled to leave.

Are these sorts of arrangements common? Merchant’s plan came right out of the Iranian foreign policy playbook, FBI Director Christopher Wray said. Iran has persistently targeted American officials and politicians to get back at the United States for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Garland added.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how U.S. authorities were aware of an Iranian threat against Trump at the same time that Crooks shot at him last month.