Sen. Grassley Questions Immigration Parole For New Alleged Trump Assassination Plotter
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Sen. Grassley Questions Immigration Parole For New Alleged Trump Assassination Plotter

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) posed a series of questions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking clarity on the recent arrest of a Pakistani national regarding his attempts to assassinate high-ranking U.S. government officials, allegedly including former President Donald Trump, in light of the fact that he was flagged on a federal watchlist and recently granted immigration parole.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) during a Senate Judiciary hearing about sanctuary jurisdictions, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 22, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The alleged Pakistani plotter, Asif Raza Merchant, 46, was apprehended on July 12, 2024, when he attempted to leave the United States. Currently in federal custody in New York, Merchant’s plot was foiled when he allegedly conspired with undercover agents, who posed as assassins, to attempt to murder high-ranking U.S. citizens.

The alleged scheme was conducted as part of a larger Iranian ploy to retaliate against the killing of General Qasem Soleimani, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said, according to an Aug. 6 Justice Department (DOJ) statement that revealed the incident. Soleimani was taken down in 2020 during the Trump administration for aiming to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

On Aug. 9, Grassley wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking him for more information regarding Merchant’s immigration parole status. Citing media reports, Grassley said that Merchant was interviewed by the Joint Terrorism Task Force upon his arrival in the United States on April 13 because he was flagged in the federal database as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest.”

Despite this, Merchant was granted Significant Public Benefit Parole on April 13 by the DHS, which he overstayed after it expired on May 11, Grassley said. He asked the DHS to provide answers to the following:

  1. Did the DHS grant Merchant Significant Public Benefit Parole before or after his placement on the terrorist watchlist and being listed as a “Lookout Qualified Person of Interest”?
  2. On what basis was Merchant granted Significant Public Benefit Parole?
  3. Provide the entire Alien Registration File (A-File) for Asif Raza Merchant.
  4. How many individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database have DHS granted parole and allowed entry into the United States?

Following Merchant’s arrest, Garland said, “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said of the incident: “This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook.

“A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”

Assassination Attempts on Trump

The Pakistani national’s plan to assassinate Trump has not been confirmed by federal agencies. The Epoch Times reached out to the DHS and the DOJ for comment regarding the issue. The FBI declined to comment.

According to court documents, Merchant’s plot involved “three different criminal schemes: (1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official.”

Merchant told the confidential source, an undercover agent, that “trusted” people would be needed to conduct the killing and perform protests after the incident as a distraction, and that they would need “a woman to do ‘reconnaissance.’”

Merchant paid the agent an advance sum of $5,000 to hire hitmen and told him that the final plans would be revealed after Merchant left the country.

He was subsequently arrested on July 12, a day before Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“The failure of the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania, is even more outrageous in light of suspected Iranian-backed assassins targeting former Trump Administration officials, including President Trump himself. That day, the threat of sniper attacks was even higher than normal,” House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said in a statement after the DOJ unsealed its charges against Merchant.

“I was previously briefed concerning the Iranian threat and the circumstances of Mr. Merchant’s arrest and questioned then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on whether she had reviewed the intelligence concerning the Iranian threat. She confirmed to me that she read the intelligence and was aware of this Iranian murder-for-hire plot.”

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Originally Posted at; https://www.zerohedge.com//

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Chinese Jets Tail US Spy Plane While Making 1st Pass Over Taiwan Strait In 5 Months

Chinese Jets Tail US Spy Plane While Making 1st Pass Over Taiwan Strait In 5 Months

Chinese Jets Tail US Spy Plane While Making 1st Pass Over Taiwan Strait In 5 Months

China says it sent warplanes to monitor and mirror a US military reconnaissance plane as it flew over the contested Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, according to statements of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command identified the aircraft as a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane. A statement said the PLA “organized warplanes to tail and monitor the U.S. aircraft’s flight and handled it in accordance with the law.”

US Navy file image: P-8A Poseidon, capable of hunting submarines

“Theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” the statement added.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet later confirmed, “The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” It asserted in response to Beijing’s condemnation: “The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows.”

“The Poseidon on Tuesday encountered foreign military forces, but the flight was not affected,” the US Navy indicated. “All interactions with foreign military forces during the transit were consistent with international norms and did not impact the operation,” the statement noted.

Tuesday’s fly through marked the US Navy’s first aerial transit of the vital strait in five months. Days prior, the German frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and support ship Frankfurt am Main made their own transit.

The German pass-through was much rarer, a first in over two decades, and suggests deepening NATO forces’ involvement in the Taiwan issue.

This past summer, Taiwan’s foreign ministry had stated that it “welcomes NATO’s continuous increase in attention to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years, and its active strengthening of exchanges and interactions with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Median line incursions by Chinese military assets have seen an uptick ever since the election victory last January of new Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, which Beijing has called a ‘separatist’. China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly vowed that “The determination of China to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity remains unrelenting.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/18/2024 – 21:20

U.S. says thwarted Chinese 'state-sponsored' cyber attack

U.S. says thwarted Chinese ‘state-sponsored’ cyber attack

The US Justice Department on Wednesday said it had neutralized a cyber-attack network that affected 200,000 devices worldwide, alleging it was run by hackers backed by the Chinese government. The malware infected a wide range of consumer devices, including routers, cameras, digital video recorders and network-attached storage devices, according to a US statement, with the […]

The post U.S. says thwarted Chinese ‘state-sponsored’ cyber attack appeared first on Insider Paper.

Nine US Senators Launch Inquiry Into Kamala Harris’ Failure As ‘Broadband Czar’

Nine US Senators Launch Inquiry Into Kamala Harris’ Failure As ‘Broadband Czar’

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized the Biden-Harris administration, pointing out that their $42.45 billion program to bring high-speed internet to rural America has yet to connect a single person. He said it had been 1,038 days, and “not a single person has been connected” since the program debuted.

Carr on X pushed out a post in the early afternoon of Wednesday featuring a new letter from nine US senators, including Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), stressing concern about VP Harris’ time as ‘broadband czar’ entirely mismanaged the $42.45 billion program to connect rural America. Considering that not a single home in rural America has been connected, the senators warned that the failures are piling up for VP Harris, citing her failure as ‘border czar.’

Dear Vice President Harris:

We are writing to express serious concerns regarding your role as the Biden-Harris administration’s “broadband czar” and the mismanagement of federal broadband initiatives under your leadership. It appears that your performance as “broadband czar” has mirrored your performance as “border czar,” marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness despite significant federal broadband investments and your promises to deliver broadband to rural areas.

As you are aware, Congress, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provided the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with $42.45 billion for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. These funds are intended to provide broadband access to unserved communities, particularly those in rural areas.

In 2021, you were specifically tasked by President Biden to lead the administration’s efforts to expand broadband services to unserved Americans. And at the time, you stated, “we can bring broadband to rural America today.” Despite your assurances over three years ago, rural and unserved communities continue to wait for the connectivity they were promised. Under your leadership, not a single person has been connected to the internet using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program. Indeed, Politico recently reported on “the messy, delayed rollout of” this program.

Instead of focusing on delivering broadband services to unserved areas, your administration has used the BEAD program to add partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment. By imposing burdensome climate change mandates on infrastructure projects, prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, mandating the use of unionized labor in states, and seeking to regulate broadband rates, your administration has caused unnecessary delays leaving millions of Americans unconnected.

The administration’s lack of focus on truly connecting the unconnected has failed the American people and represents a gross misuse of limited taxpayer dollars. The American public deserves better.

‘All-In’ podcast host Jason Calacanis recently said, “Our government is corrupt and stealing our money. United airlines just put Starlink on 1,000+ planes, but the FCC claims we need to spend 5-10k per rural home for wired connections?!? These homes are putting starlink in on their nickel while they wait for a cable modem in 10 years — wtf??? Pure corruption or insane stupidity — you decide!”

Carr recently chimed in and said Elon Musk’s Starlink offered the FCC a secured commitment of $1,300 per household for 640,000 rural locations. He said in 2023, the federal government rejected Starlink and decided to spend $100,000 per location. 

Musk said Wednesday that the FCC rejected Starlink because of “lawfare.” 

Here’s what X users are saying about an inefficient and what appears to be a ‘corruption’ within the Biden-Harris admin:

Good question.

* * *

Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/18/2024 – 18:00

Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450

Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450

A second wave of device explosions killed 20 people and wounded more than 450 others on Wednesday in Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, officials said, stoking fears of an all-out war with Israel. A source close to Hezbollah said walkie-talkies used by its members blew up in its Beirut stronghold, with state media reporting similar blasts […]

The post Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450 appeared first on Insider Paper.