Let me say up front that I do not know what motivated the FBI and Homeland Security to admit a known terrorist who was here to assassinate Donald Trump into the country. 

There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation--one that doesn't implicate the same agency that almost got Donald Trump killed--to admit a known terrorist into the country. 

Right? Right? There could be nothing to see here at all. 

But it stinks, especially in light of the ridiculous security failure that the Department of Homeland Security's Secret Service is responsible for on July 13th. 

FBI let suspect in plot to kill Trump into U.S. on parole despite terror ties, Iran trip, memos show https://t.co/D1p2K2Ymxu

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) August 8, 2024

It's not like Homeland didn't know exactly what they were doing when they admitted Asif Raza Merchant into the country. He was known to them, and they went out of their way to ensure he was allowed to enter. 

The FBI allowed Asif Raza Merchant, the Pakistani man charged with plotting with Tehran to assassinate Donald Trump and others, to enter the U.S. in April with special permission known as “significant public benefit parole” even though he was flagged on a terrorism watchlist and recently traveled to Iran, according to government documents reviewed by Just the News.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Merchant, fingerprinted him and inspected the contents of his electronic devices when he arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, but then let him leave with the special parole that expired on May 11, the memos state.

“Subject was polite and cooperative throughout encounter,” the FBI interview memo reads. “... Subject's notable travel outside of country of citizenship includes a recent trip to Iran.”

Merchant wasn't arrested until July 12, after a confidential human source ascertained he had tried to line up assassins and was planning to leave the United States, the FBI said.

Merchant was on a terrorism watch list, but he was given special permission to enter the country. He entered the country to arrange the assassination of Donald Trump, and the FBI actually posed as assassins for hire to nab him AFTER they let him into the country in the first place. 

That, to uneducated me, seems a risky thing to do, even if you think there is some intelligence benefit to following him. He is here, after all, to get a high-value target who happens to be the former president and is a presidential candidate today. 

Why take the risk? 

The memos add a new twist to an assassination plot that was uncovered before Trump was shot by a 20-year-old American in Butler, Pa., but not announced until earlier this week. Authorities say they don't believe there is connection between the two assassinations plots.

Well there you go. As I said, nothing to see here at all. Not one damn thing. Total coincidence. 

Would the FBI lie to us? Aside from every day, I mean. The same FBI that implied President Trump wasn't actually shot and had to walk it back.

The immigration records from his arrival in Houston on April 13 clearly stated in bright red that he was flagged by the Department of Homeland Security database with the identifier “WATCH LIST” and denoted as a "Lookout Qualified Person of Interest."

Despite direct travel to a country with known terrorist activity, the memo relays that Merchant was “released without incident” into the United States and was “free to travel to desired destination,” which was listed as a family member's home in Texas.

Is it paranoid to think that something is not quite right about letting in a flagged terrorist with the intent to murder the former president into the country. 

Conspiracy theorists might want to know, but the mainstream media is basically incurious, so there must be nothing to see here. 

Right?

Right?

The parole in Merchant's case, the officials said, would allow agents to try to flip Merchant as a cooperator or try to determine why he was coming to the United States and who he might be working with. But such tactics also carried a risk that agents might lose track of him, the officials said. 

The records show that Merchant was allowed to stay in the country beyond the May 11 expiration date for his parole. 

While there is no statutory or regulatory definition of a public benefit parole, according to the DHS, a variety of factors can be used to determine whether a subject qualifies, and the status is extended based on a benefit to the public, not the individual.

“Parole based on significant public benefit includes, but is not limited to, law enforcement and national security reasons or foreign or domestic policy considerations,” the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website says.

The Justice Department says Merchant tried to hire an individual for an assassination plot shortly after he entered the country in April and that individual become a confidential informant for law enforcement after reporting the contact.

So let me get this straight. Shortly after he entered the country Merchant tried to hire an assassin to kill Trump, and they kept him out in the wild rather than detain him. For months. Where they could lose him. 

Makes sense. A lot of sense to me. If you want something bad to happen. If you don't want something bad to happen you might want to work pretty hard to foil whatever plot he is cooking up. Just because you have an informant doesn't guarantee anything. 

But these guys are professionals, just like the Secret Service, and we all know that these professionals are almost infallible. 

Right?