"My family was under threat, and I had to do this. I was not wanting to do this so willingly. Merchant said he had anticipated getting arrested before anyone was killed, intended to cooperate with the U.S. government and had hoped that would help him get a green card."
"The allegation sounded like the stuff of spy movies: A Pakistani businessman trying to hire hit men, even handing them $5,000 in cash, to kill a U.S. politician on behalf of Iran's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. It was true, and potential targets of the 2024 scheme included now-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate and ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley."
"U.S. authorities were, indeed, on to him - the supposed hit men he paid were actually undercover FBI agents - and he was arrested on July 12, 2024, a day before an unrelated attempt on Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Merchant did sit for voluntary FBI interviews, but he ultimately ended up with a trial, not a cooperation deal."
Asif Merchant, a Pakistani businessman, stands trial in New York for attempting to hire assassins to kill U.S. political figures including Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley at the direction of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Merchant testified that he traveled to the United States and paid $5,000 in cash to individuals he believed were hit men, though they were actually undercover FBI agents. He claimed his family faced threats in Iran, forcing him to undertake the scheme, and anticipated arrest before any violence occurred. Merchant hoped cooperation with U.S. authorities would secure him a green card. He was arrested on July 12, 2024, and ultimately proceeded to trial rather than securing a cooperation agreement.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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