In a bold move, the House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), has issued a demand for immigration records from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. The request is in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump by an Iranian agent.

The Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote a pair of letters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday, seeking crucial documentation pertaining to the case. The committee is investigating the incident, alongside its previous findings of 99 suspected terrorists entering the United States after crossing the southern border in the past two years.

In their letters to the Biden cabinet officials, Jordan and McClintock emphasized the exploitation of vulnerabilities in the nation's immigration system by potential terrorists and enemies of the United States, and the subsequent danger posed to the country and its inhabitants.

The House Judiciary Republicans had been briefed by the Department of Justice following the indictment of Asif Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani national. According to federal prosecutors, Merchant orchestrated a plot to assassinate U.S. government officials on U.S. soil, specifically in New York City, in August or early September.

Merchant, allegedly an agent of the Iranian government, paid $5,000 advances to undercover federal agents who he believed were contract killers, as revealed in the indictment presented by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace. He traveled from Pakistan to Istanbul, Turkey, and then to Houston, Texas, in April 2024. Once inside the United States, Merchant established contact with an individual whom he believed could assist him in carrying out his criminal scheme.

Fortunately, this confidante later became a law enforcement source and played a pivotal role in thwarting the assassination plot. As a result, Merchant was apprehended on July 12, just one day before the near-assassination attempt on Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The motive behind the alleged Iranian agent's plan, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, was retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a prominent Iranian military leader. In January 2020, President Trump, then in office, ordered a U.S. airstrike that resulted in the death of Soleimani, who led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force.

As the investigation continues, the House Judiciary Committee's demand for immigration records seeks to shed light on potential loopholes in the immigration system that can be exploited by individuals who pose a threat to national security. The outcome of this inquiry will undoubtedly impact ongoing efforts to strengthen border control and prevent the entry of individuals with nefarious intentions into the United States.