The two men accused of impersonating federal agents will be released from jail, a federal judge ruled Tuesday after three days of marathon hearings where prosecutors and defense lawyers clashed over whether the men were operatives of a hostile government.
Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey said the Justice Department had not met the legal standard required to keep either Arian Taherzadeh or Haider Ali in jail.
"There is no evidence of foreign ties in this case," Harvey said, adding that there was no "suggestion that any foreign government that is hostile to the United States" was involved in the alleged plot.

Prosecutors had argued that both men posed a danger to the community because of the cache of weapons investigators found at their Washington, DC, residence. They also argued that Taherzadeh had deleted evidence on his social media page and may try to further obstruct the investigation, and that Ali posed a flight risk.

US Secret Service members stationed at the White House, on the first lady's security detail and at the vice president's residence were connected to two men arrested last week for allegedly impersonating Homeland Security agents, prosecutors said Tuesday at a federal court hearing.

During Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors didn't provide any further information on what, if anything, Ali and Taherzadeh received from the federal agents they interacted with, nor did they suggest what the men's intentions were in befriending the agents. Lawyers for both defendants deny that their clients were part of an intelligence operation to influence US officials.
At least four members of the Secret Service have been placed on leave pending investigations....