A Pakistani agent of Iran, who was actively planning the assassination of President Trump and other government officials, was arrested in New York City on July 12th, the day before the Butler rally.
Asif Merchant came here to hire hitmen in retaliation for the killing of Qasem Soleimani after he spent time in Iran. He was finalizing his assassination plans and was about to leave the US when he was arrested.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin has more:
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 to NYC to recruit hitmen. They have pics of him gaming out an assassination plot on a napkin while meeting with an undercover informant in a NYC hotel room. The FBI had undercover assets tracking him the whole time, including when he drove around Brooklyn looking for hitmen to hire, and when he handed $5,000 in cash to more undercovers, who he thought would carry out the assassination for him. His briefcase had a handwritten note in it with codewords he had invented to masquerade discussion about the assassination plot with the undercover agents. His travel records indicate he frequently travels to Iran, Syria, and Iraq. FBI says he indicated that the “party” back home had told him to “finalize the plan” and leave the US. He was arrested on July 12th as he was preparing to fly out of the US.
The question that must be on everyone’s mind now is if Crooks was paid by this Iranian agent to try and take out Trump. I know there’s been no connection made at this point, but it stands to reason that Trump was their number one target and they were looking for some like Crooks to carry out such an assassination attempt.
Maybe Crooks wasn’t connected to Merchant at all, but the fact that Merchant was in the US looking for hitmen at the same time Crooks was planning his assassination attempt smells very strange. Could it be just a coincidence?