Month: August 2024

Per CNN, the United States Justice Department said on Tuesday that a Pakistani national with ties to Iran was charged in a foiled plot to assassinate U.S. government officials on American soil, including former President Trump. The FBI investigated the alleged international murder-for-hire plot in the weeks before a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania nearly assassinated Trump at one of his campaign rallies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a press release announcing the murder-for-hire case: “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.”

According to court documents unsealed Tuesday, the DOJ said that the Pakistani man, with alleged ties to the Iranian government, was seeking to carry out political assassinations, a case that prompted the US government to increase security for former President Donald Trump and other officials. FBI investigators believe that Trump and other current and former US government officials were the intended targets of the plot.

The suspect, identified as Asif Merchant, 46, is accused of traveling to New York City and working with a hit man to carry out the assassinations in late August or early September, according to charges filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York. Merchant was arrested on July 12 — one day before a gunman narrowly missed killing Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania — while preparing to leave the United States, shortly after he met with purported hitmen who he believed would carry the murders but were actually undercover law enforcement officers. Merchant is currently in federal custody.

Court documents state that Merchant said that he wanted to target individuals in the United States who are “hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world,” adding that “these are not just normal people.” As part of the plot, Merchant was seeking men to commit the actual assassinations, a woman to do “reconnaissance,” and around 25 people “who could perform a protest as a distraction after the murder occurred.” Merchant allegedly made plans to leave the U.S. on July 12, but he was intercepted by law enforcement officers, who arrested him and searched his residence.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Tuesday’s press release: “For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General [Qassem] Soleimani.” [Soleimani was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, in January 2020].

Editorial credit: Paul Brady Photography / Shutterstock.com

Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday, August 6th that she has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her 2024 running mate on the Democratic ticket.

Harris said in a statement posted on social media:  “I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @timwalz to be my running mate. * One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal.  * He grew up in a small town in Nebraska, spending summers working on his family’s farm. His father died of cancer when he was 19, and his family relied on Social Security survivor benefit checks to make ends meet. At 17, he enlisted in the National Guard, serving for 24 years. He used his GI Bill benefits to go to college, and become a teacher. He served as both the football coach and the advisor of the Gay-Straight Alliance. * I share this background both because it’s impressive in its own right, and because you see in no uncertain terms how it informs his record. He worked with Republicans to pass infrastructure investments. He cut taxes for working families. He passed a law to provide paid family and medical leave to Minnesotan families.* He made Minnesota the first state in the country to pass a law providing constitutional abortion protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and as an avid hunter, he passed a bill requiring universal background checks for gun purchases. * But what impressed me most about Tim is his deep commitment to his family: Gwen, Gus, and Hope. Doug and I look forward to working with him and Gwen to build an administration that reflects our shared values. * Whether you are a supporter, a volunteer, a donor, a member of our staff, or your name is on the ticket: you are part of the people-powered campaign that is going to defeat Donald Trump. * We are going to build a great partnership. We are going to build a great team. We are going to win this election. * So let’s get to work. “

Walz, 60, was part of a rumored shortlist of vice presidential picks that included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. Harris held in-person interviews with Walz, Shapiro and Kelly on Sunday. Other potential VP picks included Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The Minnesota governor wrote on social media after Harris’ announcement: “It is the honor of a lifetime to join [Kamala Harris] in this campaign. I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks!”  Walz is a former teacher, national guardsman and high school football coach who turned to politics in 2006 when he successfully ran for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in a historically Republican district. After 12 years in the House, Walz  won the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial race.

Walz will hit the campaign trail with Harris for a five-day tour of seven battleground states, which commenced with a stop in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening.

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