(Web Desk) – The White House has denied involvement of Pakistani citizen Asif Merchant in plot to assassinate former United States president Donald Trump.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said late on Tuesday that “Asif Merchant has nothing to do with the attempt on [Donald] Trump's life.”
Trump had on July 13, 2024, survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.
The US Department of Justice quoted Asif Merchant as saying that he is a Pakistani citizen and lives in Pakistan. He has two wives – a wife and children live in Pakistan and the second in Iran.
Earlier, the Department of Justice claimed that Asif was involved in plot on the life of former president and Republican presidential nominee Trump as he “paid for murder.”
According to the Department of Justice, Asif had travelled to Iran, Syria and Iraq several times.
Meanwhile, the document presented in New York's Brooklyn Federal Court did not name a target of Merchant. However, it was presumed that Trump was his target for “ordering drone attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards' top commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.”
It has been claimed that Trump's security was tightened in recent weeks by the Secret Service due to knowledge of the Merchant plot. It is also claimed that he launched the plot in April when he came to the US to “hire assassins” to kill the US government officials.
However, there is no evidence that Asif was involved in the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania.
Asif is currently in the custody of US authorities in New York and is being prosecuted.
PAKISTAN FOREIGN OFFICE
The Foreign Office, in the meanwhile, has said that Islamabad is in touch with the American authorities and awaiting details.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra-Baloch said she had seen media reports regarding arrest of Asif Merchant.
She said the Foreign Office had been verifying information about Asif before giving an official response.
Also read: US charges Pakistani with alleged ties to Iran in foiled assassination plot
A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged in the United States in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.