From Fox News: A Pakistani man convicted on Friday of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump and other politicians told an FBI agent he thought Iran “was responsible” for the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Asif Merchant, 47, told the FBI agent, Jacqueline Smith, that the incident “was the same thing he was sent here to do,” Smith testified during Merchant’s trial. Merchant told jurors the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sent him on a “mission” to kill U.S. politicians, including by telling him to attend a Republican rally.
Merchant was arrested July 12, 2024, one day prior to the shooting in Butler, where Thomas Crooks fired several shots into a rally crowd, killing one and grazing Trump’s ear.
The FBI has said repeatedly that it found no evidence that Crooks had co-conspirators or that any foreign actors were involved in the incident.
Merchant, who was convicted by a jury of murder-for-hire and attempt to commit terrorism, testified that Trump was not his only target, telling jurors then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley were also on his list. He claimed that he only took part in the plot because Iran’s IRGC warned it would target his family.
Defense lawyers tried to paint Merchant as a devoting family man who has two wives, saying he “cared deeply about his faith and that he intentionally acted carelessly because he wanted to be caught.”
A separate hearing will be held later for the sentencing. Merchant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
READ MORE from Fox News.
HOLY CRAP
The Islamic Regime PAID a Pakistani national to ass*ssinate President Trump at a rally in 2024. He says he believes the Butler attempt was organized by Iran as wellpic.twitter.com/dZT60nfmM9
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 6, 2026
The FBI in New York announced:
Following an investigation by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and @EDNYnews, Asif Merchant, an Iranian Intelligence Agent, was convicted of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
ADIC James Barnacle: “At the direction of the Iranian regime, Asif Merchant plotted to assassinate a United States politician or government official on American soil. This foiled scheme motivated by vengeance for U.S. actions against the Iranian regime sought to strike at the heart of our democracy. May today’s conviction illustrate the FBI’s resolute commitment to protect the homeland from the Iranian regime’s craven efforts to wage terror on the American people.”
Read more at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/iranian-intelligence-agent-convicted-terrorism-and-murder-hire-connection-foiled-plot
Following an investigation by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and @EDNYnews, Asif Merchant, an Iranian Intelligence Agent, was convicted of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.
ADIC James Barnacle: “At the… pic.twitter.com/WnhDFJHqM0
— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) March 6, 2026
COERCION CLAIM: Pakistani businessman Asif Merchant testified that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened his family to force him into recruiting hitmen to assassinate President Donald Trump and others. https://t.co/UAjLX5rXGq
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) March 5, 2026
A press release by the Justice Department includes the following:
As set forth in trial exhibits and testimony, including the defendant’s own testimony, Merchant began working for the IRGC in late 2022 or early 2023, when he received training in intelligence tradecraft, including countersurveillance. Later in 2023, he was sent to the United States to look for potential IRGC recruits in the United States. Merchant testified that he knew that the IRGC was a designated terrorist organization. Throughout this period, Merchant repeatedly traveled to Iran to meet with his IRGC handler.
Merchant testified that in 2024, he was sent back to the United States with a new mission: to recruit hitmen to arrange the murder of one of three specific U.S. government officials and politicians. Merchant admitted that he was tasked by the IRGC to kill a U.S. government official or politician to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani. To that end, Merchant contacted an acquaintance in New York who he thought could help him with his scheme. That person instead reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source (the CS).
In early June, Merchant met the CS in New York and explained his assassination plot. Merchant told the CS that he had an ongoing opportunity for him and then made a “finger gun” motion with his hand, indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing. Merchant further stated that the intended victims would be “targeted here,” in the United States. Merchant instructed the CS to arrange meetings with individuals whom Merchant could hire to carry out these actions.
At that meeting, Merchant began planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed the CS on how he would kill a target in the various scenarios. Specifically, Merchant asked the CS to explain how the target would die in different scenarios. Merchant told the CS that there would be “security [] all around” the person.
Merchant stated that the assassination would occur after he left the United States and he would communicate with the CS from overseas using code words. The CS asked whether Merchant had spoken to the unidentified “party” back home with whom Merchant was working. Merchant responded that he had and that the party back home told him to “finalize” the plan and leave the United States. Merchant would later testify that the “party” was his IRGC handler.
In mid-June, Merchant met with the purported hitmen, who were in fact undercover U.S. law enforcement officers (the UCs) in New York. Merchant advised the UCs that he was looking for three services from them: theft of documents, arranging protests at political rallies and for them to kill a “political person” in the United States. Merchant stated that the hitmen would receive instructions on who to kill after Merchant had departed the United States. Targets could include President Donald J. Trump, President Joseph Biden, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and the defendant stated he understood the target would be Trump.
Throughout this period, Merchant performed internet searches for the locations of political rallies and sent a report back to his IRGC handler regarding security protocols at rallies.
Merchant then began arranging means to obtain $5,000 in cash to pay the UCs as an advance payment for the assassination, which he eventually received with assistance from an individual overseas. On June 21, Merchant met with the UCs in New York and paid them the $5,000 advance. After Merchant paid the $5,000 to the UCs, one of the UCs stated, “now we’re bonded,” to which Merchant responded “yes.” The UC then stated “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” to which Merchant responded “Yes, absolutely.”
Merchant subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the United States on Friday, July 12, 2024. On that day, law enforcement agents placed Merchant under arrest before he could leave the country.
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
