(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Asif Merchant, the Pakistani man busted for hiring two undercover FBI agents to be “hitmen” in an Iranian-sponsored assassination plot against Donald Trump, has been held in solitary confinement under squalid conditions since his July 12 arrest.
And according to Merchant’s attorney, he hasn’t been allowed to review the recordings of the two undercover agents and the FBI informant who ran the sting on him.
“The Government has designated all of the recorded conversations between Mr. Merchant, the Confidential Informant and the Undercover Agents, many of which are lengthy and in Urdu, as ‘Sensitive’ and consequently, it has refused to provide the defendant with a copy of those items to review at the [prison],” Merchant’s attorney, Avraham C. Moskowitz said in a Wednesday letter to U.S. Judge Eric Komitee.
Last update from me for the week: The DOJ is refusing to disclose the recordings of the two undercover FBI agents and the informant involved in the so-called "Iranian assassination plot" on Trump.
This is despite the fact that there's literally no way for the defendant to get… https://t.co/8AwsO190aV pic.twitter.com/n74XPThLV6— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) March 7, 2025
According to Moskowitz, the Justice Department is refusing to provide his client with the recordings because prosecutors fear they will be smuggled out of prison—thereby endangering the informant and undercovers. But Moskowitz said the risk of recordings being smuggled out of Merchant’s high-security jail is nearly non-existent—unless one of the prison guards does the deed.
“He is in solitary confinement and has no human contact other than with the Correctional Officers who bring him his meals and check on him through the shuttered window of his cell. He is able to review discovery only when he is taken to the law library on his unit and given a computer and a hard drive provided by the Government, and he is under the supervision of Correctional Officers at all times while reviewing discovery,” Moskowitz noted.
“Mr. Merchant does not have access to any devices that would allow him to copy the recordings or to any media (such as flash drives or hard drives) on which he might store any such copies, and his total lack of human contact makes it impossible for him to smuggle anything out of the MDC,” the defense attorney added.
“Given the stringent conditions of confinement under which Mr. Merchant is held, the only way that the recordings could be copied and smuggled out of the MDC is if it is done by a member of the MDC staff.”
Moskowitz initially complained in December about his client’s restrictive prison conditions. Last month, he said the DOJ addressed his concerns. But this week, he changed course when he realized the government wasn’t living up to its promises, which include bringing Merchant to a courthouse once a month to meet with Moskowitz in person.
“I have been able to meet with the defendant at the courthouse on only one occasion, and that visit was cut short, when the Marshals insisted that he be returned before 1 pm, despite the fact that prisoners are usually returned to the MDC after the court day is over, sometime after 5 pm,” the attorney said.
“The second visit with Mr. Merchant, scheduled to take place on February 27, never happened because, for some unexplained reason, the Marshals failed to produce him to the courthouse, although other prisoners were produced that morning.”
Moskowitz asked Judge Komitee to lift the “Sensitive” designation from the recorded conversations between the defendant, the Confidential Informant and the Undercover Agents.
“The defendant participated in the conversations and knows who he communicated with and therefore there is no danger in allowing him to listen to those recordings outside the presence of counsel,” Moskowitz reiterated in his letter.
“Moreover, given the onerous conditions of confinement under which he is held, Mr. Merchant has no ability to copy and disseminate the recordings to anyone, let alone to smuggle them outside of the MDC,” he concluded.
“The only people who could smuggle copies of the recordings outside the MDC are members of the MDC staff, and if the staff with access to Mr. Merchant’s discovery cannot be trusted, then the Government should find someone at the MDC who can be trusted and provide the recordings to him/her for safekeeping.”
It’s not clear when Judge Komitee will address the issues raised in Moskowitz’s letter. The parties are set for a March 14 status hearing.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
