Fact Check 6: The Biden-Harris administration is the #1 cash enabler of the Iranian terrorist regime
This fact should be common knowledge, 25 days away from the election, but it isn't. Why? And why have neither President Biden nor Vice-President Harris ever been asked about this?
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2024 Fact Check: Introduction - by Jon Sutz
Sources
Note 1: The following are data points I was aware of as of June 2024, when I wrote this editorial, that appeared in the Daily Signal.
Since taking office, the Biden-Harris administration became the #1 cash enabler of the Iranian terrorist regime. They did this via either (a) cash releases to the regime, or (b) by lifting the crippling economic sanctions that President Trump imposed on them, thus enabling them to acquire torrents of cash, primarily through oil sales.
In total, the Biden-Harris administration enabled Iranian terrorist regime to acquire at least $145 billion in cash since February 2022. It must be noted that the bulk of sanctions relief occurred after 10/7, when Iran’s genocidal Islamist proxy terrorist group, Hamas, perpetrated the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
1) February 2022: $29 billion
2) September 2023: $16 billion
3) January 2024: $90 billion (90 days after 10/7)
4) March 2024: $10 billion
Note 2: In preparation for writing this Fact Check, I conducted additional research, and compiled this list of reports that indicate the actual total of cash that the Biden-Harris administration enabled the Iranian terrorist regime to acquire might be much higher than the $145 billion listed above.
May 1, 2024: Biden admin sanction waivers give Iran access to billions in funds to keep war efforts going, expert says - Fox News
April 14, 2024: White House ripped over sanctions waiver that critics say put billions of dollars in Iran's hands - NY Post
November 22, 2023: Biden Handed Over $16 Billion to Iran - Congressman Brian Mast blog
November 16, 2023: $10 Billion More for Iran: Biden renews a sanctions waiver that helps fund terrorism - Wall St. Journal Editorial Board
November 15, 2023: Iran Receives Access to $10 Billion Thanks to U.S. Sanctions Waiver - Foundation for Defense of Democracies
November 10, 2023: Biden Keeps the Billions Flowing to Iran: Choosing not to enforce oil sanctions finances Tehran’s terrorism - Wall St. Journal Editorial Board
October 18, 2023: Forget the $6 Billion, Biden Has Freed Up Over $70 Billion for Iran - Daily Signal
October 17, 2023: Biden enriched Iran by more than $50 billion. Here's how to turn off the spigot - Heritage Foundation
October 10, 2023: Iran Has Made $80 Billion in Illicit Oil Sales Since Biden Took Office - Washington Free Beacon
September 27, 2023 (two weeks before 10/7): Biden’s $6 Billion Ransom Payment to Iran Fuels Their Terror Machine - The Heritage Foundation
And yet, on October 8, 2024, when Vice President Harris was asked on “The View” if there was anything President Biden did that she would have not done, or done differently, she said there was not:
Sunny Hostin, co-host: "If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?"
Harris: “There is not a thing that comes to mind."
Analysis
One cannot fully understand the depth of the betrayal revealed in Harris’s response without being in possession of vital additional, related facts, documented below — namely:
Additional Context 1: Biden and Harris know that Iran and its terrorist proxies have attacked US soldiers nearly 200 times since 2021 — attacks that have gone without response
Additional Context 2: Biden and Harris know Iran it is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and that it helped Al Qaeda to perpetrate the 9/11 attack
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Additional Context 1: Biden and Harris know that Iran and its terrorist proxies have attacked US soldiers nearly 200 times since 2021 — attacks that have gone without response
The Biden-Harris administration enabled the Iranian terrorist regime to acquire one torrent of cash after another event though they knew it and its proxies had perpetrated nearly 200 attacks on American soldiers in the Middle East in recent months — attacks that were never responded to with military force:
Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria during the Israel–Hamas war - Wikipedia
August 5, 2024: US Troops Injured in Attack on Air Base in Iraq - Air & Space Forces Magazine
July 18, 2024: Iranian proxies attack US base in Iraq for the first time in months - Military Times Magazine
April 6, 2024: Washington Says It Has Warned Iran Not To Target U.S. Troops - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
March 6, 2024: Iran proxy attacks on US troops in Iraq, Syria drop off as Red Sea heats up - POLITICO
November 17, 2023: US Forces Attacked 151 Times in Iraq, Syria During Biden Presidency - Voice Of America
October 17, 2023: Iran-Backed Militias Attack U.S. Forces in Iraq - Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Additional Context 2: Biden and Harris know Iran it is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and that it helped Al Qaeda to perpetrate the 9/11 attack
Copied and pasted from an investigative report I produced in 2016
Iran: The world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism
Since 1979, the U.S. government and its allies have listed Iran as the world’s most dangerous state sponsor of terrorism, and government officials from across the political spectrum have been firmly opposed to any kind of normalized diplomatic or financial relations with the terror state until and unless it ceases these activities. Here is a sampling of articles and reports that present the background of Iran’s involvement in global terror, and why so many officials were opposed to the deal to lift sanctions, release $100 billion in cash, and provide Iran with a path to nuclear weapons.
[2016] State Department report finds Iran is top state sponsor of terror, by Ryan Browne, CNN, June 2, 2016. Excerpt: [T]he report said that [Iran] “remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to groups around the world.” The report also said that Iran was continuing to provide arms and cash to terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Iraqi Shia terrorist groups, including Kata’ib Hizballah (KH). Both groups are designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations in the report.
Bipartisan Agreement: Iran is Leading State Sponsor of International Terrorism, by Zachary Leshin, CNSNews, December 8, 2015.
State sponsor of terror: The global threat of Iran, by Daniel L. Byman, The Brookings Institution, February 11, 2015.
Iran: The Most Active State Sponsor of Terrorism, by United Against Nuclear Iran.
Private Government Report: Iran Spending Billions to Pay Terrorist Salaries, by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, September 4, 2015.
Iran spending billions on terrorists’ salaries: report, By Kellan Howell, The Washington Times, Saturday, September 5, 2015.
U.S. Taxpayers Are Funding Iran’s Military Expansion, by Eli Lake, Bloomberg, June 9, 2016.
Iran: Al Qaeda’s partner in the 9/11 attack
Although it is not widely known, in 2011 and again in 2016, U.S. federal courts ruled that Iran played a direct, material role in the 9/11 attacks, and in providing ongoing support for Al Qaeda:
Judge: Iran, Taliban, al Qaeda liable for 9/11, CBS News, December 23, 2011 (at right).
9/11 Lawsuit: Federal Court Awards $7 billion in final judgment against Iran and Hezbollah, Winder and Counsel, PC.
Iran loses Manhattan skyscraper to terror victims, by Daniel Beekman, New York Daily News, March 31, 2014.
A special report about dramatic revelations that could change everything we knew about 9/11, by Ronen Bergman, YNet News, September 11, 2011.
Iran Told to Pay $10.5 Billion to Sept. 11 Kin, Insurers, by Bob Van Voris, Bloomberg, March 9, 2016.
Iran ordered to pay billions to relatives of 9/11 victims, by Aaron Katersky, ABC News, May 1, 2018.
Background – The evidence of Iran’s long-term, deep relationship with Al Qaeda, for the purpose of perpetrating war against America and its interests, before, after, and on 9/11
Iran’s Link to Al-Qaeda: The 9-11 Commission’s Evidence; Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2004, Volume 12: Number 1, September 1, 2004.
Unlikely Alliance: Iran’s Secretive Relationship with Al-Qaeda, by Daniel L. Byman, IHS Defense, Risk and Security Consulting (via Brookings Institution), July 31, 2012.
Remember Iran’s Role in 9/11; Forgetful officials should not be rewarding Tehran for its deadly actions with gifts like sanctions relief, by Joseph I. Lieberman, The Wall St. Journal, September 7, 2016.
Iran’s Secret Funding For al-Qaeda In Exchange For Attacks On U.S. Targets Exposed in Bin Laden Files, by Callum Paton, Newsweek, November 2, 2017.
Notes found in Osama bin Laden’s compound appear to bolster US claims of Iranian link to al-Qaeda; Supposed al-Qaeda document released by CIA depicts history of terror group’s relationship with Iran – but Tehran derides it as fake news, by the Associated Press (via the South China Morning Post), November 3, 2017.
CIA documents ‘conclusive proof of Al-Qaeda-Iran ties,’ by Siraj Wahab, Agency Press-France (via Arab News), November 3, 2017.
Al-Qaeda Has Rebuilt Itself—With Iran’s Help; Interviews with al-Qaeda members and bin Laden’s family reveal a pact that allowed the group to prepare for its next phase, by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, The Atlantic, November 11, 2017.
Conclusion: Why have neither Biden nor Harris been asked about this, by even one of America’s top news organizations?
Given all the above open-source information, how is it even possible that as of this writing, October 11, 2024, neither President Biden, nor Vice President Harris, have ever been confronted by a news organization with a very simple question:
Why did the Biden-Harris administration decide to become the Iranian terrorist regime’s #1 cash enabler, knowing its history?
And in particular, why did the moderators of the only two presidential debates that have occurred (thus far) never raise this question with Harris?
Only America’s most influential news organizations can provide answers to thsee legitimate questions.
For now, I think it’s worth pointing out that of American journalists who make monetary donations to political campaigns, 96% of this cash goes to Democrats.
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