Alleged terrorist in Election Day plot was CIA guard in Afghanistan: report

The Afghan man who has been charged with planning a terrorist attack on Election Day reportedly worked as a CIA guard in Afghanistan. This comes after Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested on Monday in Oklahoma after allegedly planning to carry out the terrorist plot.

Tawhedi worked as a security guard for the CIA in Afghanistan, two official sources told NBC News. He was allegedly planning to kill Americans on behalf of ISIS and had previously donated to a charily associated with the terrorist organization. However, officials did not say whether he was radicalized prior to coming into the US or after 2021, when he entered under the Biden-Harris admininistration's special program for Afghans.



One senior official reportedly told the network that counterterrorism officials believe that Tawhedi became radicalized as he was living in the US, however senior FBI officials are still looking into the question. The CIA declined to comment on the matter. Additionally, the Biden-Harris White House declined to comment on the specifics of the case yesterday, however, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed to reporters that every Afghan national that came to the country after the United States withdrew from the war in Afghanistan was properly vetted.

The claim from the White House, as well as DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' refusal to publicly comment on how Tawhedi was able to gain entry into the US, has drawn scrutiny against the Biden-Harris administration. It has raised more questions about the vetting process of illegal immigrants coming into the country as well from all over the world.

Court documents say that Tawhedi entered the US Sept. 2021, around a month after the military withdrawal. “Every Afghan resettled in the US undergoes a rigorous screening and vetting process no matter which agency they worked with," an official claimed to NBC news. “That process includes checking against a full range of U.S. records and holdings."

One senior administrator told the outlet that Tawhedi passed two rounds of screening, where no information connecting him with terrorists emerged. DOJ officials added that Tawhedi used a special immigrant visa and "is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigrant proceedings."

At the time of the withdrawal, many GOP leaders warned against automatic entry for Afghan immigrants into the country, over fears that terrorists would take advantage of the soft-border system that the Biden-Harris White House installed when they took office.