The Obama administration “systematically derailed” an FBI probe into Iranian terrorists — with then-Secretary of State John Kerry “personally” interfering to block arrests to score a nuclear-weapons pact with Tehran, show newly released bombshell emails.
Newly released unclassified FBI communications from 2015 and 2016 reveal how officials in then-President Barack Obama’s Justice and State departments stopped federal agents from enforcing US sanctions on Iran and set up “a shadow amnesty program that protected scores of additional Iranian criminals.”
The covert effort included the abandonment of “dozens of Iran-related investigations” by the FBI and related cases by federal prosecutors “after recognizing the State Department and DOJ obstruction would thwart effective enforcement efforts,” whistleblowers’ disclosures say.
“Secretary of State [Kerry] personally told DOJ officials that they were to stand down on an arrest,” a disclosure stated, directly contradicting his sworn testimony to Congress in July 2015 that Iran was being “restrained” from implementing its missile programs.
At the same time, Kerry’s State Department was negotiating and would later sign onto the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran nuclear deal.
The agreement lifted economic sanctions and resulted in a prisoner swap between Tehran and Washington — while also coinciding with a subsequently revealed payout of $1.7 billion in cash to the Iranian regime and the release of 14 members of its Weapons of Mass Destruction and ballistic missile programs.
“Kerry and the State Department sold out the safety of Americans and our allies when they provided $1.7 billion in cash to Iran which, unsurprisingly, Iran used to continue development of their weapons programs and to better equip and fund their proxies,” the whistleblowers said.
“The death and destruction seen on October 7, 2023, [in Israel] is only one of the tragic results from providing this cash to Iran and from the State Department, DOJ leadership, and FBI Director Comey systematically obstructing Iranian investigations and prosecutions for years,” the documents say.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, released the whistleblower disclosures after a lengthy investigation, saying his findings revealed: “chilling evidence the Obama-Biden administration jeopardized our national security and demoralized the morale of FBI agents who were working to keep Americans safe.”
The Judiciary chairman said the re-election of President Trump would bring about a return to normal enforcement procedures and “restore American strength on the world stage and hold Iran accountable for its evil acts.”
During the Obama years, FBI officials became so concerned with the obstruction of their investigations into agents of Tehran that they took their worries to then-US Attorney General Loretta Lynch — who also refused to take action, according to the whistleblowers.
“We are all beside ourselves on asking the field to stand down on a layup arrest, however as it stands right now we all have to sit back and wait until all the US and Iran negotiations resolve themselves,” bureau official Louis Bladel wrote in a July 3, 2015, email, days before the JCPOA was signed.
State Department official Samantha Boyer slammed the administration for thwarting enforcement operations even after the deal, saying in a March 1, 2016, email: “[I]t’s a little like WTF that [an arrest is] being held up (if you’ll excuse the phrasing). However, it is what it is.”
Others such as FBI official Stacey Moye discussed compiling evidence of the administration’s interference “should there ever be a special investigation/hearing etc. on why FBI could not action law, and potentially prevent [a] national security incident.”
That Dec. 17, 2015, email was sent to DOJ lawyer Jay Bratt, who served as chief of the counterintelligence and export control section in the National Security Division.
Bratt resigned in January of this year after working on the cases brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.
Reps for Obama did not respond to a Post request for comment. Kerry could not be reached for comment!
