Despite being on a terror watchlist, a Pakistani citizen who was accused of conspiring with Iran to assassinate former President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials was reportedly permitted entry into the United States.
The Department of Justice announced in a press release on Tuesday that Asif Raza Merchant, 46, was apprehended last month and charged with participating in a murder-for-hire conspiracy to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil.
Is that all Merchant was granted special permission, known as “significant public benefit parole,” by the FBI in April, according to a report from Just The News.
This was despite the fact that Merchant had recently spent time in Iran and was listed on a terrorism watchlist.
The outlet obtained government memoranda that demonstrated that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Merchant, fingerprinted him, and examined his electronic devices upon his arrival in Houston.
However, they permitted him to depart.
Merchant was apprehended on July 12, a mere day prior to Trump’s nearly fatal shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
According to numerous law enforcement officials who communicated with Just The News, Merchant’s parole designation would afford agents the opportunity to either convince him to collaborate with terrorists or to ascertain the reason for his visit to the United States and the individuals with whom he was associated.
They also faced the possibility of losing track of Merchant as a result of those tactics.
Merchant was also permitted to remain in the country beyond the expiration date of his parole.
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