U.S. Files Charges Over Iranian Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump Before Election Day
by Ty Roush · ForbesTopline
Three people have been charged with being tasked by Iran to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump and others before Election Day, the Justice Department announced Friday, months after Trump—the target of two unrelated assassination attempts—claimed there were threats against his life coming from Iran.
Key Facts
Farhad Shakeri, 51, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, were each charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy, the DOJ said.
Rivera and Loadholt—residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, respectively—were arrested, though Shakeri remains at-large and is believed to be in Iran, according to the agency.
In interviews with law enforcement, Shakeri allegedly claimed to be tasked with surveilling and assassinating targets for Iran’s military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and used Rivera and Loadholt to help carry out surveillance.
In September, Iranian officials requested Shakeri to focus on surveilling and “ultimately assassinating” Trump and told Shakeri that Iran already “spent a lot of money” to do so, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
The IRGC then tasked Shakeri with developing a plan to assassinate Trump in October, though Shakeri told the FBI he did intend to do so.
Shakeri said he was also offered $500,000 by the IRGC to surveil and assassinate two Jewish-American citizens in New York City, while also being tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.
Crucial Quote
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said while announcing the charges.
What To Watch For
Shakeri was also charged with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to violate sanctions against Iran’s government. He faces a maximum combined sentence of 100 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the DOJ said. Rivera and Loadholt face a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Key Background
In a social media post in September, Trump claimed there were “big threats” against his life originating from Iran. His campaign announced he was briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him.” Intelligence officials indicated that coordinated attacks against Trump had “heightened in the past few months,” his campaign said. In July, Trump was targeted by a gunman during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots toward Trump before Crooks was shot dead by the Secret Service. The agency reportedly increased security around Trump that same month, after the Secret Service became aware of threats against Trump from Iran. Trump was the target of another assassination attempt at his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course in September, though no shots were fired. Ryan Routh was detained by police shortly after fleeing the scene.