An official from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has denied CNN’s report about Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man alleged to have ties to the Iranian government and accused of planning political assassinations in the United States.
CNN, citing unsealed court documents from the Justice Department, reported that Merchant had been charged in a case that led the US government to heighten security for former President Donald Trump and other officials.
However, in the same report, CNN quoted an FBI official stating that investigators had not found any evidence linking Merchant to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
FBI investigators suspect that Trump and other current and former US government officials were the intended targets of the plot, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
The White House also stated that no evidence has been found against Asif Merchant, and the investigation is ongoing as the accused remains in federal custody.
Prosecutors claim that Merchant planned to leave the country before carrying out the assassination, but he was arrested before he could flee.
According to charges filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, Asif Merchant, 46, is accused of traveling to New York City and collaborating with a hitman to execute assassinations in late August or early September.
Prosecutors stated that Merchant was arrested on July 12 while attempting to leave the United States. His arrest came shortly after he met with supposed hitmen, who were actually undercover law enforcement officers. Merchant is currently in federal custody.
Court documents reveal that Merchant expressed a desire to target individuals in the United States who he claimed were “hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world,” emphasizing that “these are not just normal people.”
Meanwhile, in a statement issued from Islamabad in the early hours of Wednesday, the Foreign Office spokesperson acknowledged that they were in touch with US authorities over the “ongoing investigation” and awaiting further details.
“Before giving our formal reaction, we also need to be sure of the antecedents of the individual in question,” the statement said.
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