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US accuses Iran of plotting to kill Trump
An Iranian national has been charged with murder-for-hire
An Iranian national and two Americans have been charged with involvement in a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, as well as an Iranian dissident, the US Department of Justice has announced.
Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle ‘Pop’ Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt were named in the criminal complaint unveiled on Friday by the Southern District of New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn and Loadholt in Staten Island. Shakeri is “believed to reside” in Iran and remains at large.
“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Shakeri, 51, immigrated to the US as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison on a robbery conviction. The DOJ alleges he is an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who used “a network of criminal associates he met in prison” to spy on targets and plot their deaths.
Rivera, 49 and Loadholt, 36, were allegedly promised $100,000 by Shakeri to stalk and kill an unidentified Iranian dissident (Victim-1).
According to the DOJ, Shakeri had several “recorded interviews with law enforcement agents,” in which he said he was tasked by the IRGC on October 7 to provide a plan for killing Trump.
“During the interview, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC,” the DOJ noted. It was unclear why Shakeri has not been arrested.
The three men were all charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, for facing a total of up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Shakeri has also been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to do so, and violating US sanctions on Iran, and faces another 60 years in prison if ever caught and convicted.
While the DOJ noted that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland have held up the indictment as proof that Iran is “actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks” motivated by vengeance for the 2020 death of IRGC Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination in a drone strike carried out near the Baghdad airport in Iraq.
The 45th and soon to be 47th president of the US survived an assassination attempt on July 13, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service killed the shooter, identified as a 20-year-old American Thomas Crooks. Another would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, was arrested in September after he set an ambush at a Florida golf course belonging to Trump. No Iranian connection was made in either case. Routh had previously tried to recruit Afghan veterans to fight for Ukraine against Russia.
https://www.rt.com/news/607383-iran-trump-kill-plot-accusation/
Iran denies plotting to kill Trump
The US authorities earlier charged a Tehran resident with laying the groundwork for an attack on the president-elect
Iran has denied US accusations that it attempted to orchestrate a plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before the November election. It has dismissed the allegations as a hoax orchestrated by pro-Israel actors in a bid to exacerbate tensions between Washington and Tehran.
On Friday, the US Department of Justice claimed that Iranian officials had asked a man named Farhad Shakeri to “provide a plan” to kill Trump, adding that he was also tasked with carrying out assassinations of US and Israeli citizens inside the US. Shakeri was described as an Afghan national residing in Tehran after being deported from the US in 2008 following a lengthy prison sentence for robbery.
The indictment also implicated two American citizens, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, who were accused of helping Tehran track a US citizen of Iranian origin. “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, categorically rejected the accusations, calling them “completely baseless.” “Such claims at this juncture [are] a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the US and Iran,” he added.
Baghaei also recalled that Iran had denied similar “false” allegations in the past. He was apparently referring to an indictment by the US Department of Justice from August in which a Pakistani national was accused of being sent to the US by Iran to carry out murders. One of the planned attacks was allegedly aimed at Trump.
Trump was the target of two assassination attempts this year prior to the election. The first one occurred in July when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on him at a Pennsylvania rally, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The would-be assassin was killed on the spot by the Secret Service.
The second incident took place in September, when a suspect identified as Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly tried to assassinate Trump at his Florida golf course but was intercepted by security.
https://www.rt.com/news/607411-iran-denies-plotting-kill-trump/
Trump seeking ‘major changes’ to US foreign policy – Bloomberg
The president-elect is already reshaping Washington’s approach to Ukraine, the agency says
US President-elect Donald Trump is wasting no time in his push to revamp Washington’s policies on Ukraine, even though his inauguration is still weeks away, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
One unnamed former Trump administration official told the agency that the Republican will “have an immediate head start thanks to the perception that he will be tougher than his predecessor.” He added that some US adversaries could change their behavior without waiting for the president-elect to be sworn in, as they might be “deterred by the threat of US retaliation,” while others could try “to exploit their remaining leverage before President Joe Biden leaves office.”
According to Bloomberg, the shift in the wind is “felt most acutely in Ukraine,” given that Trump has promised to settle the conflict within 24 hours if elected, even before his inauguration. The president-elect and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky have already had a phone call, with X owner Elon Musk – a Trump ally who has advocated for Kiev to cede territory to Russia to end the conflict – also reportedly joining in.
Shelby Magid, the deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, told Bloomberg that Trump’s victory has changed Ukraine’s attitude toward talks. She added that the country is now “moving in the direction – knowing that Trump has won – of accepting that negotiations are a reality.”
The transition period is often turbulent in the US, the article added, noting that this has been exacerbated by Trump’s apparent intention to change US policy. According to Bloomberg, this has “handcuffed the Biden administration,” as many US allies had been reluctant to take action before they were sure who would be the next US president.
As for a possible settlement of the Ukraine conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported that one of the plans under consideration includes Kiev dropping its ambitions to join NATO in the near future and freezing the conflict along the current front line. While Zelensky has ruled out any concessions to Russia, including “trading” territory, Ukrainian media reports suggested that he might be powerless to resist US pressure if Trump decides that Kiev must make a peace deal with Russia.
Moscow has ruled out a freezing of the conflict, insisting that all of the goals of the military operation – including Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – must be achieved. Nevertheless, Russia has signaled that it is open to talks aimed at resolving the crisis.
https://www.rt.com/news/607407-trump-reshaping-us-policy-ukraine/
Out there earning their Soros money.
Ridiculous
Defies logic.
Overwhelming majority of votes on election day were for Trump and Republicans.
All votes counted after election day have an overwhelming majority for the Dems.
Cheat is on.
(pic not related)
That's a total of 30 votes, which won't do shit.
30 votes does not put Harris over the line and 30 votes does not take away Trump's win.
PA has 19
AZ has 11
Trump is currently at 312
Harris is currently at 226
https://decisiondeskhq.com/results/2024/General/President/
https://www.britannica.com/story/how-many-electoral-college-votes-does-each-us-state-have