The FBI foiled a Pakistani national’s plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump and more American officials last month, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday. Asif Merchant, 46, was arrested July 12 for targeting officials who are “hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world.” Merchant was preparing to leave the country after he thought his hired hitmen, who were actually undercover FBI agents, were ready to carry out his orders in late August or early September. Merchant was hoping to recruit roughly 25 people to help him with...

Federal authorities busted up an assassination plot on U.S. soil, prosecutors revealed Tuesday as they announced charges against the Pakistan citizen they say was at the center of the operation, which they said had ties to Iran. Asif Merchant tried to recruit hitmen but ended up hiring two undercover agents, paying them a $5,000 advance to assassinate “U.S. government officials,” the FBI said. He also hoped to foment protests and steal documents from targets’ homes, the FBI said in court documents. Authorities said Mr. Merchant arrived in the U.S. in...

Federal law enforcement officials have charged a Pakistani national who allegedly plotted to assassinate a top U.S. politician or official, said to be former President Donald Trump. Asif Merchant, 46, was arrested while in the process of attempting a murder-for-hire scheme, in which he paid undercover U.S. agents to arrange meetings with potential killers, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in New York. Merchant, who has purported tied to Iran, travelled to New York City to meet the undercover agents and was arrested before he could flee the country....