Man on trial in assassination plot says Trump, Biden, Haley were possible targets
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A man accused of plotting to kill U.S. politicians said he was pressured by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to devise the murder-for-hire scheme.
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Crime Man accused of plot to assassinate Trump testifies Iran pressured him, says Biden and Haley were other possible targets March 5, 2026 / 6:59 AM EST / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google The allegation sounded like the stuff of spy movies: A Pakistani businessman trying to hire hit men, even handing them $5,000 in cash, to kill a U.S. politician on behalf of Iran 's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. It was true, and potential targets of the 2024 scheme included now-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate and ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the man told jurors at his attempted terrorism trial in New York on Wednesday. But he insisted his actions were driven by fear for loved ones in Iran, and he figured he'd be apprehended before anything came of the scheme. "My family was under threat, and I had to do this," the defendant, Asif Merchant , testified through an Urdu interpreter. "I was not wanting to do this so willingly." Merchant said he had anticipated getting arrested before anyone was killed, intended to cooperate with the U.S. government and had hoped that would help him get a green card. U.S. authorities were, indeed, on to him - the supposed hit men he paid were actually undercover FBI agents - and he was arrested on July 12, 2024 , a day before an unrelated attempt on Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania. During a search, investigators said they found a handwritten note that contained the codewords for the various aspects of the plot, CBS News previously reported . Merchant did sit for voluntary FBI interviews, but he ultimately ended up with a trial, not a cooperation deal. "You traveled to the United States for the purpose of hiring Mafia members to kill a politician, correct?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta asked during her turn questioning Merchant Wednesday in a Brooklyn federal court. "That's right," Merchant replied, his demeanor as matter-of-fact as his testimony was unusual. The trial is unfoldin...
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