US EditionMan on Trial in Assassination Plot Says Possible Targets Included Trump, Biden, Haley
Asif Merchant allegedly sought to hire hit men for $5,000 to kill Trump, Biden, and Haley, claiming duress due to threats on his Iranian relatives, U.S. prosecutors said.
- On Wednesday, Asif Merchant testified in Brooklyn federal court that he acted due to threats to his family, claiming he had no choice, the defendant said through an Urdu interpreter.
- Long ago, Merchant said he was introduced to a Revolutionary Guard intelligence operative who trained him and instructed him to recruit U.S. residents and arrange protests, money laundering, and possibly murder.
- He researched rally sites, sketched a shooting plot and scrambled together $5,000 from a cousin as a token payment, while the supposed hit men he paid were undercover FBI agents.
- Prosecutors argued in court filings that Merchant failed to seek law enforcement help before arrest and neglected facts supporting duress during FBI interviews, with no cooperation deal secured.
- Potential targets included now-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, the Iranian government denied plotting, and jurors were told to ignore news amid a recent Iran war.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Pakistani Man on Trial Says Possible Assassination Targets Included Trump and Biden
A Pakistani man charged with plotting a political assassination in the U.S. is testifying in his defense at his attempted terrorism trial Pakistani Man on Trial Says Possible Assassination Targets Included Trump and Biden.
Pakistani man says Iran forced him into plot to kill Trump
Defendant Asif Merchant tells US court he was coerced by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps into helping plan an assassination of Donald Trump and other American politicians, while prosecutors say there is no evidence supporting claims he acted under duress
Had no other option: Pak man claims Iranian spies hired him to kill Trump, Biden
A Pakistani national accused of plotting to assassinate senior US political figures has claimed that Iranian intelligence operatives recruited him to kill President Donald Trump, his predecessor Joe Biden and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
Associated Press News
Man on trial in assassination plot says possible targets included Trump, Biden, Haley
A Pakistani man charged with plotting a political assassination in the U.S. is testifying in his defense at his attempted terrorism trial.
Man Accused of Plotting to Kill Trump Blames Iran for Scheme
A Pakistani man accused of plotting to murder American politicians, including President Trump, testified on Wednesday that he had worked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to devise his scheme, which included hiring hit men. Asif Merchant, who is on trial on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, said that he had been forced to go along with the plot to protect his family in Tehran from the Revolu…
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