Cruz: White House Orchestrated Money Laundering Operation for Iran

Source: Washington Free Beacon | September 8, 2016 | Adam Kredo

Obama admin: Iran forced U.S. to pay out in cash

The Obama administration orchestrated a “money laundering operation” on Iran’s behalf, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Tx.) told the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday following testimony by top U.S. officials who disclosed that the Islamic Republic forced the United States to pay $1.7 billion in cash prior to the release of several American hostages.

Senior Obama administration officials, under the threat of a subpoena, were forced to appear on Capitol Hill early Thursday to face questions about the circumstances behind a $1.7 billion cash payment to Iran that has been widely viewed as a ransom.

Under questioning from lawmakers, officials from the State, Treasury, and Justice Departments said Iran insisted the money be paid out in cash by the United States prior to the release of several U.S. hostages.

“Iran had to have it in cash,” Paul Ahern, assistant general counsel for enforcement and intelligence at the Treasury Department, told lawmakers. “Iran was very aware of the difficulties it would face in accessing and using the funds if they were in any other form than cash, even after the lifting of sanctions.”

A cash delivery “was the most reliable way that they received the funds in a timely manner and it was the manner preferred by the relative foreign banks,” Ahren said.

Cruz, a leading critic of the administration’s diplomacy with Tehran, expressed outrage at this admission, telling the Free Beacon that the Obama administration is guilty of laundering U.S. funds for Iran.

“This testimony only confirms what reasonable people had already concluded about the Obama administration’s cash transaction with the Islamic Republic of Iran: This was a ransom paid to a rogue regime determined to spend it on terrorist attacks on America and our allies,” Cruz said.

“The mullahs wanted cash so it would be immediately accessible and untraceable, and the administration agreed because they didn’t want there to be proof the Iranians were using it for terrorism. It was, essentially, a money laundering operation,” Cruz added.

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  • Consistent #9834

    ConservativeGranny #9839

    And now what? It’s not like we didn’t all suspect this was the case.

    CA Surveyor #9851

    To thank Cruz for his effort, they’ll probably give him the Bob Dornan treatment.

    EVERYDAY #9853

    Unfortunately, Cruz’s Senate colleagues will go through the motions of holding hearings and expressing phony outrage, but in the end, they will do nothing. The entire Obama administration should be in prison, but congressional leadership just turns a blind eye.

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