Three influential GOP senators about to play key roles in the next Congress are escalating pressure on the Homeland Security Department, FBI and Secret Service, concerned the agencies aren’t doing enough to protect President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers from retaliatory and assassination threats posed by Iran.
In a letter to agency heads, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., cited reporting from Just the News that revealed how a Pakistani man named Asif Merchant who was plotting with Tehran to assassinate Trump was permitted into the country earlier this year by the Biden administration even though officials flagged him on a watch list and knew he had traveled recently to Iran. Merchant, a Pakistani native, was waived into the country and granted a “Significant Public Benefit Parole.”
The senators expressed their concerns to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and Attorney General Merrick Garland that inquiries about the Merchant episode have not been answered. They also said that they have received additional information suggesting DHS and the Secret Service don’t have enough resources to protect all current and former officials facing threats from Iran.
Tagged:
Partner
