HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A federal criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday alleges a Pakistani national came to Houston to recruit people for his alleged plot to assassinate U.S. officials.
Asif Merchant, 46, has been charged with “murder for hire.”
The arrest warrant unsealed Tuesday doesn’t mention Donald Trump by name, but our partners at ABC News report Trump was one of the targets in Merchant’s alleged plot.
According to the federal arrest warrant, Merchant flew to Houston in April to recruit before eventually heading to New York.
Merchant returned to Texas, and according to FBI Houston Field Office Spokesperson Connor Hagan, FBI National Security agents arrested him in Houston on July 12.
Court records also show that the person with whom he was sharing details of his plot was a confidential informant working for the FBI.
