The DOJ press release doesn’t mention any names, it just a 46-year-old Pakistani man has been charged with plotting to assassinate “a politician or U.S. government officials on U.S. soil.” But this ABC News report says the main target was former President Donald Trump.
After spending time in Iran, Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot, according to a detention memo. The person he contacted was a confidential informant working with the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Merchant, 46, is charged with murder for hire.
Killing the former president was one part of Merchant’s plot but it was clear he wasn’t planning to get his own hands dirty. Instead, he planned to hire the people needed, set everything in motion and then leave the country before it actually happened. Merchant also told the FBI informant that he was in contact…
