U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) sought information on Friday from the Treasury Department and State Department amid reports that the Obama administration made a $400 million cash payment to Iran.
In letters to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Secretary of State John Kerry, Hill wrote that the administration had demonstrated “a lack of negotiating prowess” that delivered a blow to U.S. taxpayers.
“The news in January 2016 that the United States delivered $1.7 billion on the day that four American hostages were released — an action that was apparently not connected with the (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) — and the recent Wall Street Journal report that confirmed $400 million of that sum was secretly paid in cash, including Swiss francs, U.S. dollars and Euros, stretches the imagination, is utterly outrageous, and sets a dangerous precedent,” Hill wrote. “Our own State Department reported in June 2016 that ‘Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015,’ and because of this cash transfer, the United States is now a direct party to Iran’s nefarious activities, which very likely will result in the killing of our troops in the field along with an unknown number of innocents.”
Hill questioned why the administration agreed to send cash to the “world’s foremost” sponsor of terrorism, whether pre-1979 Iranian money for military equipment was kept in an interest-bearing account, whether any portion of the $1.7 billion payment was derived from taxpayer funds, and how the $400 million in cash was assembled and delivered.
“While the Iranian government certainly had the right to ask for the return of pre-1979 funds as a part of bilateral discussions, for the United States to agree to the payment, plus interest – and in cash – and for it to have been delivered when our hostages were released is beyond belief,” Hill said. “Despite the administration’s claims that the $1.7 billion payment was not a ransom, it was conveniently transferred on the day the hostages were freed, and we still do not know the status or whereabouts of the longest held American hostage in U.S. history, Robert Levinson. These actions have put a price on the head of every American by directly rewarding Iran for its hostage-taking enterprise.”