Officials said they had no evidence indicating the plot was connected to the shooting in Pennsylvania. Merchant allowed them to disrupt what they characterized as a far-ranging plot that also included stealing computer files from U.S. officials. It also included staging protests against American treatment of Muslim countries. U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against Mr. Trump in the weeks before the assassination attempt that prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the former president before his outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa. It is not clear if the scheme made public on Tuesday precipitated those moves.

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Persons: Donald J, Trump, Asif Raza Merchant, Matthew Crooks, Merchant Organizations: U.S . Investigators, Service Locations: Iran, New York, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, Butler, Pa