{"id":2251178,"date":"2024-05-23T11:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T15:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-republican-senators-reveal-john-kerry-blocked-fbi-arrests-of-iranian-terrorists\/"},"modified":"2024-05-23T11:53:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T15:53:38","slug":"top-republican-senators-reveal-john-kerry-blocked-fbi-arrests-of-iranian-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-republican-senators-reveal-john-kerry-blocked-fbi-arrests-of-iranian-terrorists\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Senators Expose John Kerry&#8217;s Obstruction of FBI Arrests of Iranian Terrorists"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-republican-senators-reveal-john-kerry-blocked-fbi-arrests-of-iranian-terrorists%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2251178&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Top Republican\u2062 Senators Grassley and Johnson disclosed the Obama-Biden administration&#8217;s interference in prosecuting \u200cIranian operatives linked\u2062 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/evidence-of-undeclared-nuclear-activities-discovered-at-locations-in-iran-that-raise-new-concerns-report\/\" title=\"\u2018Evidence Of Undeclared Nuclear Activities\u2019 Discovered At Locations In Iran That Raise New Concerns: Report\">nuclear activities<\/a>. John Kerry impeded FBI arrests in 2015-2016. The \u200csenators demanded related documents from the FBI, State Department, and DOJ. The Biden administration&#8217;s Iranian-friendly approach contrasts with Trump&#8217;s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A pair of top Republican senators revealed the Obama-Biden State Department intervened to prevent the prosecution of Iranian operatives involved in adversarial nuclear programs nearly a decade ago. According to lawmakers, former Secretary of State John Kerry blocked several FBI arrests of individuals responsible for proliferating Iran\u2019s military capabilities between 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sent letters demanding documents related to the interference from the FBI, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice (DOJ).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe records provided to our offices show that the Obama\/Biden administration\u2019s State Department, under the leadership of John Kerry, actively and persistently interfered with FBI operations pertaining to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-alexander-twisting-reality-to-fit-fairy-tales\/\" title=\"Will Alexander: Twisting Reality to Fit Fairy Tales\">lawful arrests<\/a> of known terrorists, members of Iranian proliferation networks, and other criminals providing material support for Iran\u2019s nuclear and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-names-special-envoy-to-north-korea-after-meeting-with-moon\/\" title=\"Biden Names Special Envoy to North Korea After Meeting With Moon\">ballistic missile programs<\/a>,\u201d lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/news\/news-releases\/grassley-johnson-uncover-obama-biden-state-departments-politically-motivated-obstruction-of-fbi-law-enforcement-efforts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote <\/a>to all three agencies. \u201cThe records also show that DOJ and FBI leadership apparently allowed it to happen until the Trump administration altered course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iranian appeasement has remained at the heart of the Biden administration\u2019s foreign policy following eight years of a similar strategy embraced by former President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, the Biden State Department even offered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/state-department-offers-condolences-death-irans-president-baffling-move-human-rights-lawyer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201ccondolences\u201d<\/a> for the recent death of Iran\u2019s terrorist president.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, the final year of Obama\u2019s presidency, the federal government airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran in a covert operation as four Americans were released from Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran\u2019s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> The Wall Street Journal. \u201cThe settlement, which resolved claims before an international tribunal in The Hague, also coincided with the formal implementation that same weekend of the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Tehran, the U.S. and other global powers the summer before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then-President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov\/briefings-statements\/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptable-iran-deal\/#:~:text=Trump%20is%20terminating%20the%20United,protect%20America%27s%20national%20security%20interests.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">withdrew<\/a> the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Last September, the Biden White House <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/20\/paying-iranian-terrorists-billions-in-ransom-is-nothing-to-brag-about-mr-president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreed <\/a>to pay a $1.3 billion-per-prisoner ransom to Iran in an apparent \u201cprisoner swap\u201d wherein the U.S. released spies caught trying to steal military equipment for the world\u2019s lead state sponsor of terror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut don\u2019t let the term \u2018prisoner swap\u2019 insinuate any moral equivalence,\u201d reported Federalist Senior Editor David Harsanyi. \u201cThese are not two normal countries trading spies or combatants. No, this is just an old-fashioned extortion.\u201d While the U.S. released spies, \u201cthe Iranians released political hostages, snatched off the streets of Tehran after unwisely returning to visit family or attending funerals or protests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>[RELATED:[RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/11\/the-u-s-money-trail-with-iran-is-worse-than-you-think\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The U.S. Money Trail With Iran Is Worse Than You Think<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/newsroom\/minority\/scott-leads-colleagues-in-bill-to-freeze-6-billion-to-iran-probe-additional-iranian-assets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">introduced<\/a> bipartisan legislation with more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govtrack.us\/congress\/bills\/118\/s3049\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two dozen<\/a> GOP colleagues plus Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to block the $6 billion dollar hostage deal in October. The \u201cRevoke Iranian Funding Act of 2023\u201d was last considered by the Senate Banking Committee in early April.<\/p>\n<p>Sens. Grassley and Johnson gave the Biden administration a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/grassley_johnson_to_state_-_state_department_iran.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">June 4 deadline<\/a> to deliver records requested by congressional investigators.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan&#8217;s email newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/socialjusticeredux.substack.com\/about\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two key GOP senators disclosed the Obama-Biden State Department&#8217;s interference in prosecuting Iranian agents linked to hostile nuclear activities years ago. They stated that ex-Secretary of State John Kerry halted multiple FBI arrests of those aiding Iran&#8217;s military advancements in 2015-2016. This revelation emerged on Wednesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2251179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Kerry-e1716473242398.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Kerry-e1716473242398.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}