The plot sounds like something plucked from a spy thriller. Two operatives claiming to be U.S. security personnel, but suspected of ties with foreign enemies, were recently arrested. They had stashed a small arsenal in a luxury apartment near the U.S. Capitol from which they were cultivating relationships with White House Secret Service personnel.

Who Haidar Ali and Arian Taherzadeh are working for is unclear at the moment. But they may be part of an Iranian plot to exact revenge for the liquidation of the mullahs’ top terrorist, Qassem Soleimani. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is among those reportedly being targeted for assassination.

Incredibly, a magistrate named Michael Harvey rejected prosecutors’ request to jail these suspects, instead releasing them to home detention. Since an inside tip foreshortened the investigation into their operation, we cannot fully assess the danger of doing so.

This is Frank Gaffney.