The FBI allowed Asif Raza Merchant, the Pakistani man charged with plotting with Tehran to assassinate Donald Trump and others, to enter the U.S. in April with special permission known as “significant public benefit parole” even though he was flagged on a terrorism watchlist and recently traveled to Iran, according to government documents reviewed by Just the News.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Merchant, fingerprinted him and inspected the contents of his electronic devices when he arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, but then let him leave with the special parole that expired on May 11, the memos state.
“Subject was polite and cooperative throughout encounter,” the FBI interview memo reads. “… Subject’s notable travel outside of country of citizenship includes a recent trip to Iran.”
Merchant wasn’t arrested until July 12, after a confidential human source ascertained he had tried to line up assassins and was planning to leave the United States, the FBI said.
The memos add a new twist to an assassination plot that was uncovered before Trump was shot by a 20-year-old American in Butler, Pa., but not announced until earlier this week. Authorities say they don’t believe there is connection between the two assassinations plots.
The FBI declined to comment about the documents obtained by Just the News. But, the JTTF interview summary and immigration records give some rich detail about what the bureau knew before it allowed Merchant to enter the country and what conditions they placed on his entry.
The immigration records from his arrival in Houston on April 13 clearly stated in bright red that he was flagged by the Department of Homeland Security database with the identifier “WATCH LIST” and denoted as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest.”
Despite direct travel to a country with known terrorist activity, the memo relays that Merchant was “released without incident” into the United States and was “free to travel to desired destination,” which was listed as a family member’s home in Texas.
Law enforcement officials who alerted Just the News to the FBI’s role in April compared the parole decision to an earlier law enforcement controversy known as the “Fast and Furious” scandal in which federal agents allowed U.S. guns to flow to Mexican cartels in hopes of tracking crimes.
The parole in Merchant’s case, the officials said, would allow agents to try to flip Merchant as a cooperator or try to determine why he was coming to the United States and who he might be working with. But such tactics also carried a risk that agents might lose track of him, the officials said.
The records show that Merchant was allowed to stay in the country beyond the May 11 expiration date for his parole.
While there is no statutory or regulatory definition of a public benefit parole, according to the DHS, a variety of factors can be used to determine whether a subject qualifies, and the status is extended based on a benefit to the public, not the individual.
“Parole based on significant public benefit includes, but is not limited to, law enforcement and national security reasons or foreign or domestic policy considerations,” the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website says.
The Justice Department says Merchant tried to hire an individual for an assassination plot shortly after he entered the country in April and that individual become a confidential informant for law enforcement after reporting the contact.
Merchant reportedly asked the informant about various methods to carry out an assassination attempt.
He also told the confidential source that the planned assassination would occur after he left the United States and that he would communicate with the individual to relay instructions. However, law enforcement intercepted Merchant before he left the country.
After the charges against Merchant were announced earlier this week, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency issued a new warning Wednesday to its field offices that Iran or its proxy groups may try to transport “operatives, money or materials” across both the southern and northern U.S. borders to carry out attacks on the United States.
In the memo, which was obtained by Just the News, the CBP’s Office of Field Operations directed agency personnel to take a “heightened posture due to ongoing security threats,” including against possible attacks on the United States mirroring the recent Iran-backed Hezbollah rocket attack on an Israeli town in the Golan Heights.
The memo also warned that heightened tensions across the Middle East due to Israel’s retaliation for the Golan Heights strike – the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital – increased the risk of a terror attack in the United States.
The memo specifically urged CBP personnel to implement “hardening measures” at ports of entry such as the airport in Houston where Merchant arrived and was subsequently released into the country.
Merchant was ultimately arrested on July 12 as he attempted to make arrangements to leave the country.
Prosecutors unsealed a complaint against him earlier this week, charging him with organizing a “murder-for-hire” plot in a scheme to assassinate U.S. politicians or government officials. Justice Department and FBI officials said Merchant was working “on behalf of others overseas” and pointed the finger at Iran.
“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s charges allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “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.”
Though Trump, a former GOP president running for reelection in 2024, was not named in the complaint directly, sources confirmed to ABC News that he was one of the intended targets.
The revelation that Merchant was stopped at a port of entry but permitted to enter the United States, even with terror ties, follows a report from the House Judiciary Committee that found the Biden administration’s DHS released 99 individuals on the terrorist watch list into the country between fiscal years 2021 and 2023 and has 34 others in custody who have not yet been removed.
During those years, Border Patrol encountered individuals from 36 different countries with an active terrorist presence, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen, the report says.
In June, eight men from Tajikistan were arrested in coordinated sting operations across the United States because their suspected ties to the Islamic State terror group. All eight of the suspects crossed the southern border, but their criminal background checks were clean when they crossed, NBC News reported.
Steven Richards joined Just the News in August 2023 after previously working as a Research Analyst for the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a two-time graduate of Florida State University with a Masters in Political Science and a B.S. in International Affairs.
John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Editor in Chief of Just the News.
Reprinted with Permission from Just The News – By John Solomon and Steven Richards
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
So, this Merchant guy was allowed to enter the country, despite being on the terrorist watchlist. They checked his electronics and let him go. After all, he was “polite and cooperative”! Then he was arrested when trying to leave the country. Does this mean his plan to have his goons assassinate politicians, including President Trump, were set in motion?
I mean, really. Anyone with the slightest indication that he might cause trouble should be put in jail and examined thoroughly. An unguarded border, is, of course, the stupidest thing to do during these times of heightened vulnerability. Let’s vote these idiots out of office.
What other outcome could there possibly be in a lawless, borderless and DOJless situation? Our own government is welcoming and allowing for this to happen.
The FBI let this man in even while under scrutiny.
God only knows how many snuck in totally UNVETTED through our southern border,
And now Kamala-la-la ding dong and Tim no-ballz-Walz want to steer the ship. What could possibly go wrong?
Moreover, the lunatic Left is energizing their base to wreak all kinds of havoc during the next round of stupid they’ll spring on the country. I wonder what kind of mischief they’ll have cooked up for us this time.
This is a distraction. The buyden$ administration is attempting to get the heat off themselves for the conspiracy of assassinating President Trump! All their “intelligence” agencies, their judicial and law enforcement agencies all plotted to murder the true President of the United States of America!
Is there anything else we can do besides vote and hope it is not corrupt? I don’t feel “We the People” have any control over anything anymore. Can’t trust the FBI or any other governmental agency. I will vote for Donald Trump and hope he can help us out.
This article is the kind and quality of information that helps to keep this Nation strong and alert to what is developing with the enemies of freedom who are here in the United States. Lessons to be learned from this story should be appreciated by. intelligent ,law abiding , respectable citizens . I have been a Reagan Conservative since 1980 . Spent much of my life involved with tool making. Praise for writing this article John Solomon and Steven Richards . Principles , are what holds this Constitutional Republic together. Respect for Ethical Standards in matters that are at the root of a society that values civilization and has a sense of National Character. Knowledge of how the United States is defended , how Liberty is defended — all very important ideals.
Did they buy him a gun and ammunition or did they just let him wing it? If I were Trump/Vance I’d be buying my own security team and stop relying on the ppl trying to indict him.
What the HELL is wrong with our government. I am speechless. At least we have one or two actual journalists left to expose them to the public. But I have neighbors who will only listen to Rachel Maddow for news and think everything else is misinformation. What “interesting” times.
What does this say about the current administration and the lame Di*ks in charge of all these 3 letter agencies, ie: FBI, CIA, SECRET SERVICE and such? A known terrorist suspect allowed into this country to roam free? Well hell, why not? Yet, Tulsi Gabbard is now on the watch list. Piss off the Dems. and watch what happens. Things are so ass backwards in this country that it will take decades to fix what these left wing nuts have done. The whole Democratic cabal should be put on the terrorist watch list as they are the true enemies to our Constitution and country. 2024 introduces us to no brain Harris and now tampon Tim. Could it get any better? Hopefully common sense and Trump will bring us back to even keel if he is not assassinated, yes, by his political enemies. God bless the America we once knew.
The FBI is worthless!!!
US Govt in on Plot to Kill Trump
Banana Republic at its finest. Don’t like your political opponents, kill them or let someone else do it for you.
If only one or two FBI agents in Minnesota or Florida had the least bit of intellectual curiosity which extended beyond their paychecks and retirement, perhaps 9/11 would never have happened. They should have paid attention to the two Fixed Base Operators in either of those states who reported that they had foreign students who didn’t want to learn how to land an airplane. And they are today, still a bunch of failures.
Need any more proof what the Left has planned for us?
They knew on July 12 of this guy. And still they pulled back SS agents at the rally in Butler PA. Let the perimeter unprotected to give an assassin an excellent opportunity to shoot Trump. A conspiracy? Or an omission to let it happen? Who is responsible for this? So far everyone is still stonewalling!! Why? Nobody has been fired. From the head of the FBI to the head of the SS they all have been hinting Trump wasn’t shot. We have candidates on the dem side who are talking but not saying anything. I call them the Walzing Mathildas. They dance around the issues. While destroying America in the process. Kameltoe did nothing in the past 4 years than following lying Joe. And see where it got us. Inflation is still rampant, invaders are bankrupting America. A depression is imminent and a third world war is brewing. This whole story is not to be believed. It is a tale to take the failure of the SS to protect Trump from the front page. If they knew about this why weren’t there more agents and better perimeter protection in Butler PA?
I guess, to the FBI, that possibly assassinating Trump was considered a public benefit? Is ANYONE at the government doing their jobs or telling the truth any longer? Whoever let that guy in should NOT even be employed and no security clearance. What were they thinking?
This present administration is a threat to this country with their open border policy and definitely must be replaced this coming November election. I believe this country has the integrity to do the right thing by voting for a competent leader which is Donald Trump. What happened at that rally was a disgrace to any formidable security agency. Gods grace is the reason Donald Trump is still alive.
Sounds like an inside job to me, by the DOJ and Homeland Security. Just look who is running them!!
it should be obvious by now that the leaders of the F.B.I. wanted trump dead.
we need to get rid of the cia fbi nsa all these so intelligence agencies they are run by the deep state and not us they are out of control the us gov is the same way we need to get rid of all these bureaucrats
The Cartel they are letting into the country is as bad as any terrorist organization in the world.
You may not like his personality, but he has what it takes to “drain the huge swamp”! Vote TRUMP 2024
Can anyone name ONE agency under Biden’s “leadership” that is doing its supposed job?
State Dept” FAILURE/ Secret Service: FAILURE /Homeland Security(?): FAILURE/ Dept. Of Education: FAILURE/ Justice(?) Dept. : FAILURE/ FBI: FAILURE/ Border Patrol (heads not agents): FAILURE
Can we survive 4 more years of this donkey crap?
KEEP VOTING DEMORAT HELP MAKE AMERICA A SH.T HOLE
Anyone surprised? Didn’t think so.
“He was polite”. What a joke. Our government has become so weak and afraid of being called names that they may have already set a plan in motion that could see Americans harmed or killed. This is what happens when you hire people based on “inclusiveness” and not on their ability to do a certain job. America is only hanging on due to the established protocols that were set in place long before any of these idiots were born. “He was polite”, I still can’t believe this. Trump was almost killed by incompetence. Trump and other politicians may have been named in a plot by a person on the “terrorist watchlist”, BUT he was still allowed into the country, and the administration is worried about making sure we have certain amounts of this race, this sex, this many trans, etc., etc.. Stop the moronic behavior and hire the best people for the job. We don’t base our Olympic representatives on color, sex, etc., we send the best athletes for the competition. That’s called common sense, and it is what we used to do when hiring people, especially people for important jobs that involved peoples’ lives. SMH. Enough nonsense, enough affirmative action, enough inclusiveness, we MUST go back to hiring the right people for the job, based on ability, intelligence and common sense.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “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.”
This statement is very curious coming from this FBI director. Considering the policy of letting anyone into the country. He speaks of “national security” while the perverse system is letting enemy agents into the country. This sound like complicity!
The fbi are a group of bidens thugs. I wouldn’t trust them with my goldfish.
The FBI and DOJ are now the Democrats Nazi Death Squads. Walz now solidifies the Democrats as the next Nazi’s with Obama as their Commander in Chief playing Hitler.
Oh, I feel so much better now going through the security at the airport knowing that the department of Homeland security is protecting US citizen from every suspicious terrorist individual with evil intentions who are freely entering and roaming OUR Country. Thanks D-Rats!
All you need, is to look at Patrick Bet- David‘s interview with Nicholas Irving, He lays out the perfect plan to protect Trump. Hope Trump’s team has seen that interview, because he’s going to need a Delta Force, in order to save his life. Have seen scary predictions, with one person predicting that Trump will be killed in October, Kamala will become president, and Civil War will break out in this country. Never thought I would see it in my lifetime. We need to wake up, and stand up!
This might sound strong. But Jesus tried to help us! Only to gave the establishment, goverment, courts and the sheepish population want him killed.
Trump tries to help us and, the swamp creatures, government. Courts and the sheepish fall in line and attempt to destory him
Sadly, any scenario or suspect presented by the FBI at this point is laughable.
They are more concerned about mothers at school board meeting, Christians praying at abortion clinics and YOU.
Were I a conspiracy person, I would believe that this government means to kill President Trump.
The agency needs to be flushed out and every Top Staffer in it now fired. No one will trust them going forward otherwise, esp. the current leaders so start all over from scratch with trustworthy, vetted and experienced people who will do their job according to our laws and the Constitution.
geeee i wonder who else the dumb as craps let in and who they are scheduled to murder.
you? me? i guess we will see when the fools elect harris the traitor.
He should have just walked across our Southern OPEN Border…..
Who’s side is the FBI on? Certainly, not the US side! Is the FBI now working for the enemy? They aren’t working to protect American from enemies!
Where was the background checks performed. ??? In the country where they come from. ??? Kyle L.
How many more of these bottom feeders is the”deep sewer”going to recruit.I really fear for our country and the state that I live in.There was a time when I called illinois my state,no more it has gone so far left that I don’t recognize it anymore.All they care about are union and illegal alien votes.
Is this a planned event by the government?? The memos add a new twist to an assassination plot that was uncovered before Trump was shot by a 20-year-old American in Butler, Pa., but not announced until earlier this week. Authorities say “they don’t believe” there is connection between the two assassinations plots??? Who is in charge?? Who would allow all this?? I do know who was down to their last shots….
Oh, well, as long as he was polite.
So just how stupid is the FBI?
What the f**k is going on with the FBI?
I wonder if Hollywood will ever make a movie about the Obiden Cabal like they did ‘All the President’s Men’… Of course not! It’s all too unimaginable even for a fiction movie!!! And there’s no way to clean it up! And no one would ever CARE to see MORE of Obiden on screen or pay $$$ to see it! And who would portray the VP??? no one’s THAT dumb. And NO ONE wants to hear one SECOND MORE of that cackle!!! It would go belly up! before it even premiered! That’s so WEIRD, since they’re BOTH so popular!
As in this story, ” He was polite.”Well,dang! That makes President Trump and all of us sigh with relief.What a dumb remark from one of the three letter Federal agencies.
I know this sounds like sarcasm, but it’s not, ” Does this article surprise anyone?
I guess the miracle is that nobody who threatens the power of the left has been physically assassinated yet, and the failed attempt on Trump was, of course, by a “lone gunman” with no connections to anybody on the left. Although, if an influential opponent died mysteriously, what chance is there that this administration would be inclined to figure it out? They use character assassination all the time, as well as lawfare and every political dirty trick imaginable. They truly have no moral compass or they wouldn’t favor abortion or changing the sexual orientation of children. I guess we just don’t have a level playing field. God help us and He is our only hope to be saved from this rotten Biden administration!
The left has tried everything they could think of to get rid of President Trump. The FBI is owned lock, stock and barrel by the left. What do you expect?
And some wonder if there could be a coverup? Amazing!!