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House Intel chair calls out Biden-Harris admin for ‘no red lines’ with Iran over targeting of Trump

August 19, 2024 | | Print Article

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner called out President Joe Biden’s administration for drawing “no red lines” with Iran after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The House Intelligence Committee chairman blasted Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a CBS News interview for doing nothing about threats by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Republican presidential nominee.

Reports that Iran was behind the hacking of the Trump campaign as well as engaging in online disinformation against him come amid an acknowledgment of a plot to potentially assassinate the former president.

“I think what’s missing here is a response from the administration,” Turner told Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” Sunday.

(Video Credit: CBS News/Face The Nation)

“You have Microsoft coming forward and saying that the Trump campaign had been hacked. The administration, the Biden administration, had identified that Iran was attempting to do this, including spinning misinformation,” the Ohio Republican said.

“But, even further, the administration has acknowledged that Iran had – was executing a plan to assassinate Donald Trump, even alleging that an individual they have in possession was part of that plot,” the Intelligence Committee chair continued.

Turner likened Iran’s alleged involvement in the attempted assassination to an “act of war.”

“Yet you don’t really have a response from the administration. Most national security experts resoundingly agree that killing a presidential candidate would be an act of war from a foreign power. Well, certainly, attempting … does at least require a response,” he said.

“And, in this, the administration is – both on the hacking side, on the misinformation side, and on the alleged attempt on Donald Trump’s life, is not holding Iran accountable,” Turner contended.

Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man reportedly connected to the Iranian government, was arrested on July 12, just one day before the attack on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. Federal sources said there was no connection between the plot involving the Butler shooter and Merchant who was seeking to carry out a murder-for-hire.

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s charges allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a press release. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.”

“This is not a law enforcement issue, right? This is not a law enforcement issue,” Turner said in response to Merchant’s arrest.

“This is a nation-state that the administration has identified as having executed a plot to try to assassinate Donald Trump and is undertaking misinformation, election interference including hacking,” he said. “This requires a response to the administration.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said last week that the Justice Department “will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against Americans.”

Frieda Powers
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