(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A whistleblower has leaked notes from the FBI’s interview with Asif Merchant, the Pakistani man arrested on July 12 for allegedly trying to hire hitmen—who were in fact undercover FBI agents—to assassinate Donald Trump.
The FBI 302—released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa—was drafted based on an interview Merchant had with FBI and Justice Department officials on July 17 as part of a potential plea deal. It reveals, among other things, that Merchant allegedly had an Iranian “handler” named Mehardad Yousef.
A whistleblower has leaked FBI interview notes from the so-called Iran-linked terrorist who wanted to kill Trump and other gov't officials.
The notes reveal, among other things, that the Asif Merchant's "handler" was an Iranian named Mehardad Yousef
The thing that stood out to me… pic.twitter.com/4KrB10UCIx— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 5, 2024
The interview notes also state that Merchant previously entered the U.S. last November and started networking from there.
Additionally, the interview notes suggest that Merchant and his Iranian handler wanted to assassinate Trump at one of his campaign rallies—a plot eerily similar to what ended up nearly occurring on July 13.
“MERCHANT drew two arrows on his diagram which represented from where an assassin could strike … At the top of the rectangle was a small box representing a podium where the target would be located. YOUSEF told MERCHANT that it was possible to kill the target from far away or up close,” the FBI 302 stated.
“The arrow closest to the podium represented the ‘near’ or up close option, which YOUSEF had described as ‘indoor.’ The arrow outside of the rectangle represented the ‘far’ option, which YOURSEF had described as ‘outdoor.’ YOUSEF had described the indoor killing as being donducted with a pistol, but with a high likelihood that the assassin would be captured or killed,” the FBI 302 continued.
“YOUSEF described the outdoor option as being conducted by a sniper at long range … MERCHANT believed that both the near and far options would not be successful due to security, but assessed that there was a 50% change that either tactic would succeed.”
Charging documents suggest that the Iranian plot was an FBI-controlled sting operation throughout.
In April, Merchant traveled to New York for the purpose of paying a $5,000 advance to the two undercover U.S. law enforcement officers. According to documents obtained by Just the News, Merchant was reportedly interviewed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force when he entered the Dallas airport in April because he was reportedly flagged by DHS with the identifier “WATCH LIST” and listed as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest.”
Despite being flagged, Merchant was granted Significant Public Benefit Parole by DHS. Some have flagged this as a significant oversight by the DHS, while others suspect that Merchant was allowed to enter the country as part of the FBI’s larger sting operation.
Merchant was arrested on July 12—the day before the Trump assassination attempt—before he could leave the U.S.
The Merchant case looks similar to the supposed 2022 Iran plot to kill former national security adviser John Bolton. In that case, the FBI claimed that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force tried assassinating Bolton—but the Iranian was never confirmed to be an IRGC-QF member, and the “assassin” he was trying to hire was an FBI informant.
The whistleblower’s disclosure of the FBI interview notes was released via Sen. Grassley, who wrote to the FBI and Homeland Security directors with questions about it.
“When did your agency become aware of Merchant’s entries into the United States? When did your agency first become aware of Merchant’s plans to carry out an assassination attempt?” Grassley asked Wray, along with demanding a slew of documents about the case.
“Provide a list of all known associates of Merchant. What is your agency doing to investigate the involvement of known associates and potential accomplices of Merchant? Are foreign governments other than Iran involved? Provide all records,” the senator also asked.
Grassley wants answers by Sept. 19. Meanwhile, there’s been no action on Merchant’s court docket.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
