House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) is seeking more information about the Pakistani national with suspected ties to Iran who was arrested last month for plotting to assassinate former president Donald Trump.
Jordan sent letters Friday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting they provide details about Pakistani national Asif Merchant’s immigration history and entries into the U.S. after federal prosecutors earlier this week unsealed a criminal complaint charging him with plotting to kill a politician on American soil.
“Potential terrorists and enemies of the United States exploit vulnerabilities in our nation’s immigration system to the detriment of those in the country,” Jordan wrote. “The Committee has documented how the Biden-Harris Administration’s border and immigration policies have allowed a known 99 potential terrorists into the country and only increase the likelihood that other dangerous aliens will successfully enter and remain in the country.”
Jordan is asking Blinken and Mayorkas for his case history, including his immigration history and immigration benefits applications. He is also demanding Mayorkas give information about the Pakistani national’s entrances into the U.S. and processing by U.S. Customers and Border Patrol officials.
Justice Department officials during a call earlier this week would not answer questions about Merchant’s immigration status and entry into the U.S., Jordan said. The DOJ officials referred to the court documents instead.
A U.S. official briefed on the matter told CNN Trump was one of Merchant’s targets, along with other current and former U.S. officials. The criminal complaint alleges Merchant, 46, sought out hitmen to carry out the assassination plot, and in June he met with undercover FBI agents posing as such. A confidential source who tipped off law enforcement to Merchant’s presence introduced him to the FBI agents after Merchant revealed his murder plot to the source.
A resident of Pakistan, Merchant spent time in Iran before he traveled to the U.S. in April 2024 to begin recruiting people to help him assassinate U.S. government officials, the court papers indicate. Merchant was let into the country through Houston, Texas, and received parole, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News. The FBI was tracking Merchant before he entered the U.S., and his presence on American soil was needed to build a case against him before the arrest.
“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” said FBI director Christopher Wray.
“A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”
Merchant was arrested on July 12th, one day before gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa, but the two incidents are unrelated. At this time, the FBI believes Crooks was a loner who did not have any co-conspirators.