US charges Iranian man who planned to kill Trump – The Irish Times

US justice department files criminal charges over Iran plot to kill president-elect Donald Trump this was blocked by the FBI.

The federal government unveiled criminal charges in what the justice department said was a murder-for-hire plot to kill Mr. Trump before this week’s meeting. presidential electionHe won a decisive victory over his Democratic opponent. Kamala Harris.

The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact in September to devise a plan to spy on and eventually kill Mr. Trump.

Investigators learned of the plot while interviewing Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national identified by authorities as an asset of the Iranian government and deported from the United States after being imprisoned on robbery charges.

He told investigators that in September, a Revolutionary Guard contact in Iran instructed him to devise a plan within seven days to spy on and eventually assassinate Mr. Trump, according to the criminal complaint.

Two other men who authorities say were recruited to take part in other assassinations, including that of a prominent Iranian American journalist, were arrested Friday. Mr. Shakeri remains in Iran.

“There are few actors in the world who pose as serious a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran,” U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland said Friday.

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His campaign said in September that U.S. intelligence officials told Mr. Trump about a suspected Iranian plot to kill him.

Meanwhile, a US judge on Friday set aside stays in Mr Trump’s case to overturn the 2020 election after federal prosecutors said they were grappling with the “unprecedented situation” of his impending return to the White House.

U.S. district judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington approved a request by private attorney Jack Smith, who is handling the criminal case, to delay the deadlines while considering the future of the case, in accordance with the court order.

Prosecutors said the delay was necessary to “allow the government time to evaluate this unprecedented situation and determine the appropriate path forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

Under the Justice Department’s policy dating back to the 1970s, a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted.

The justice department is discussing how to end the election-overturning case and another federal case against Mr. Trump (in which he is accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office), a source told Reuters on Wednesday.

Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty last year to four charges accusing him of conspiring to obstruct the tallying and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat against Democrat Joe Biden. Efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory culminated in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers were due by Nov. 21 to respond to Mr. Smith’s claim that the case could proceed following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting former presidents broad investigative immunity for official actions they took while in office.

Mr. Smith said prosecutors will let the judge know by Dec. 2 how they plan to proceed.

Robert Lighthizer, a staunch supporter of tariffs, has been asked to return as US trade representative under Mr Trump, the Financial Times reported.

Mr. Lighthizer was a leading figure in Mr. Trump’s trade war with China and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada during his first term.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump announced that he had chosen Susie Wiles, one of his two campaign managers, to be his White House chief of staff. – Agencies