MAN ON TRIAL IN ASSASSINATION PLOT SAYS TRUMP, BIDEN, AND HALEY WERE POSSIBLE TARGETS. (PHOTO).

 Man on trial in assassination plot says Trump, Biden, and Haley were possible targets

A Pakistani businessman accused of attempting to arrange the assassination of a U.S. political figure testified in federal court Wednesday that several prominent American leaders were discussed as possible targets, including President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

The defendant, Asif Merchant, is on trial in New York on charges related to an alleged 2024 plot to hire hit men in the United States on behalf of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Prosecutors say Merchant traveled to the country with the intention of recruiting criminals to carry out the killings and even handed over $5,000 in cash to individuals he believed were hired killers.

During testimony delivered through an Urdu interpreter, Merchant acknowledged the scheme but told jurors he acted under pressure and fear for relatives living in Iran. He said his family had been threatened and claimed he believed cooperating with U.S. authorities after his arrest would ultimately protect them and possibly help him obtain legal residency in the United States.

Merchant told the court he never expected the plot to be carried out, believing instead that he would be arrested before anyone was harmed. He said he anticipated cooperating with federal investigators and hoped that doing so might lead to a green card.

Authorities were already monitoring Merchant at the time. The individuals he believed he had hired were actually undercover FBI agents. Merchant was arrested on July 12, 2024, just one day before a separate and unrelated attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Although Merchant later agreed to speak with FBI investigators voluntarily, prosecutors said those discussions did not lead to a cooperation agreement and instead resulted in criminal charges.

During questioning in court, Merchant admitted he traveled to the United States to attempt to recruit criminals to carry out the assassination of a political figure. He answered calmly as prosecutors walked him through the allegations.

The case is unfolding during a period of heightened tension involving Iran, including a recent military conflict in which Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a strike. Jurors have been instructed not to follow news coverage related to the case or developments involving Iran while the trial continues.

Iran’s government has denied allegations that it has plotted to kill Trump or other American officials.

Merchant, 47, previously worked for about two decades in Pakistan’s banking industry before branching into various business ventures. He testified that he operated businesses dealing in clothing, automobile sales, banana exports, and insulation imports.

He also described having two families — one living in Pakistan and another in Iran. According to his testimony, he met an intelligence operative connected to the Revolutionary Guard around late 2022 while in Iran. Their early conversations focused on financial matters, including the possibility of working in the informal hawala money transfer system.

Merchant said the contact later became interested in his regular travel to the United States related to his garment business. The operative allegedly trained him in surveillance-avoidance techniques and tasked him with identifying people in the U.S. who might be willing to assist Iran.

According to Merchant, the assignments later escalated. He said the operative instructed him to locate someone involved in criminal activity who could help organize protests, commit theft, launder money, and potentially arrange a killing.

Merchant testified that the handler mentioned three names during discussions about possible assassination targets: Trump, Biden, and Haley. However, he said no specific target was ultimately chosen.

When U.S. immigration officials questioned Merchant at Houston’s airport in April 2024 and searched his belongings after noticing his travel to Iran, he began to suspect that American authorities were monitoring him. Despite that suspicion, he continued communicating with his Iranian contact and began preparing what prosecutors say was a potential assassination plan.

Merchant said he researched locations where Trump might appear at rallies and outlined the possibility of a shooting at a political event. He also arranged to meet individuals he believed were criminals capable of carrying out the attack and gathered $5,000 from a relative to give them as an initial payment.

At the same time, Merchant said he sent updates to his Iranian contact. He testified that some of the information he passed along was fabricated and included messages hidden inside a book that was shipped to Iran through intermediaries.

Merchant told the court he believed he had no choice but to continue playing along because the operative appeared to know details about his relatives in Iran and where they lived. He said he feared they could be harmed if he refused to cooperate.

Prosecutors have challenged that explanation. In court filings, they argued that Merchant never sought help from U.S. authorities before his arrest, despite claiming he feared coercion. They also said he failed to mention any threats to his family during early interviews with the FBI that might support a claim he was acting under duress.

Merchant testified that he did not tell investigators about the alleged threats because he believed they would not believe his story. He said their questions made him feel as if they already believed he was a highly trained operative.

When asked directly by his defense attorney whether he considered himself a spy, Merchant responded simply that he was not. He told the court he was “absolutely not” a super-spy and insisted that his actions were driven by fear rather than allegiance to any intelligence operation.