Asif Merchant, the man on trial for allegedly plotting to hire hit men to kill a high-up U.S. political target believed to be Donald Trump, told an FBI agent he got the money to hire hit men — who really turned out to be undercover agents themselves — from his cousin who worked for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Merchant, a Pakistani national, asked a New York City contact to help him orchestrate the plot to target a political rally in June 2024, according to video footage shown in court. What he didn’t know was that the contact, a former translator for the U.S. military, was already in touch with the FBI, and had given agents access to the hotel room where Merchant discussed the plot, marking the “target” with an orange vape and asking the best angle at which said target could be shot and killed.
That was in June 2024. Over the next month and a half, the FBI kept close watch as Merchant traveled to Houston and stayed with family. He was arrested July 14, the same day he planned to leave the U.S.
In a post-arrest proffer statement, Merchant told law enforcement he got the $5,000 down payment he gave to the “hit men” from his cousin, Hasnain Hyderi, who “worked for the IRGC,” FBI Special Agent Jacqueline Smith testified Tuesday.
Merchant went on to say that Hyderi, who lives in Tanzania, had previously set him up with an IRGC handler in Qom, Iran, and later passed Merchant some information — the name of an Israeli business in Tanzania — to relay to the handler, Mehradad Yousef.
Merchant said both he and Hyderi were aware of each other’s connection to the IRGC, Smith testified.
During the interview, Smith said she asked Merchant how he’d repay his cousin the $5,000 payment.
“He said that he would obtain the money through his IRGC handler, Yousef,” Smith said.
She also said Merchant told her that Yousef instructed him that “if he noticed he was being surveilled, that he should act normal.”
On cross-examination, defense attorney Avraham Moskowitz elicited that the conversation between Merchant and Smith wasn’t recorded. Though he got the go-ahead from U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee to delve into the notion that proffer statements are usually taken for the purpose of possible government cooperation, he ultimately didn’t question Smith on that topic; doing so would have opened the door to additional proffer-related revelations.
Trial attorneys so far haven’t referred to Trump by name, but defense attorneys confirmed in a pre-trial document that the case involves “charges that the defendant was acting as an agent of a foreign government and was plotting to assassinate high-ranking government officials, including President Trump.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Merchant’s views on Trump came into better focus as jurors looked at his previous Facebook posts, including seemingly AI-generated images of Trump digging his own grave, posted on Jan. 6, 2020, and of Trump’s severed head, posted three days earlier. The latter has the caption “coming soon” in English, and writing that translates to “severe revenge.” A third photo Merchant shared juxtaposes side-by-side a close-up of Trump’s face and the face of a pig.
Tuesday also marked the first direct reference to Merchant’s potential ties to Iran’s armed forces in a trial that has come to overlap with the U.S. and Israel’s bombing of Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, last weekend. The burgeoning war set off wider international violence and has put New York City on high alert.
Meanwhile, Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday condemned Iran’s government as “brutal” and repressive while cautioning against the U.S. waging an “illegal war of aggression” against the country.
Merchant has a wife and child in Iran, as well as a wife and children in Pakistan, according to court testimony. His defense attorney Christopher Neff pointed out in opening statements that having two wives is “perfectly legal” in both of those countries.
Merchant is charged with one count each of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. He has been in U.S. custody awaiting trial in the Eastern District of New York and faces a possible life sentence if convicted.
