Two men with possible ties to Pakistani intelligence arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents owned a trove of weapons and identification tools, and had access to details about Secret Service protection and the White House grounds, it was reported Friday.
Prosecutors said they planned to charge Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, with conspiracy in a scheme in which they are accused of posing as Department of Homeland Security agents.
The Secret Service has suspended four agents linked to the two men, whom authorities said gave gifts worth thousands of dollars to agency personnel including one assigned to protect President Joe Biden's wife.
RealClearPolitics reported Friday that one Secret Service agent involved in the alleged bribery was assigned to President Biden’s detail, and another uniformed division officer was assigned to protect Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence.
"JUST IN: @FBI says the @SecretService agents "compromised" by @DHSgov impostors Ali & Taherzedeh had access to personal protective details and @WhiteHouse complex," Fox 5’s Melanie Alnwick tweeted Friday morning.
Alnwick also tweeted that an affidavit filed in advance of a Friday court hearing said Taherzadeh and Ali "pose a danger to the community based on their use and possession of firearms and other weaponry."
Photos attached to Alnwick's tweets showed photos of confiscated pistols (Glock 19, Sig Sauer P229) and Ali's visa.
"Also had 'tools to manufacture identities' and surveillance equipment. Visa photo is first confirmed pic of Haider Ali we’ve seen," Alnwick tweeted.
NBC News reporter Laura Strickler tweeted that law enforcement also found a currency counter, brass knuckles, sniper scope, fingerprint kit, tools to break down a door, and a device to locate hidden cameras at a Washington, D.C. condominium building where the two men lived and used as their headquarters.
ABC’s Luke Barr tweeted Thursday that the FBI "allegedly found body armor, gas masks, tactical gear, a drone, a binder with a list of every resident in the apartment complex, ammunition and scopes for firearms, as well as multiple handguns in 5 apts and 3 cars belong to men accused of being fake federal agents."
Fox 5's Stephanie Ramirez tweeted that Taherzadeh and Ali would have a 3:30 p.m. ET detention hearing Friday.
One of the men allegedly told witnesses in the case that he had connections to ISI, the Pakistani intelligence agency, a prosecutor said during a court hearing Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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