title: obamas secret muslim list
text: search form search from bad to worse  obamas ransom payment to iran is just the tip of the iceberg in his bid to pursue a legacy obama charts disastrous course with reckless abandon november   ari lieberman 
  most of us including several democratic lawmakers cringed when obama inked the iran deal but those of us who are familiar with the malevolent nature of the iranian regime recoiled in horror when we learned that obama transferred  million to the iranians in exchange for four american citizens held captive by the mullahs on trumped up charges the  million was part of a larger installment totaling  billion ostensibly to settle claims iran had against the united states stemming from aborted iranian arms purchases dating back to the shah obama claimed that this was money that was owed to iran and the settlement which included  billion in interest saved the us taxpayer billions because the iranians were demanding even more at the hague tribunal where the claim was being adjudicated 
  the timing and method of the cash transfers were disquieting to say the least and raised serious questions of legality as well as broader geopolitical concerns the americans were freed only after iran received its  million the payment which was airlifted in the dead of night in an unmarked cargo plane was made in untraceable cash stacked on wooden pallets the iranians demanded swiss francs and euros rather than dollars and a pliant obama agreed to the islamic republics dictates gleeful iranian leaders were quick to announce victory and claimed that the payment was indeed a ransom contradicting the administrations adamant denials 
  even within the administration there was confusion about whether the payment was in fact a ransom state department spokesman mark toner came very close to acknowledging this fact when he noted that the  million was used as leverage to ensure the americans safe return the white house however quickly repudiated the state departments characterization 
  even if one were to believe the story peddled by the administration the mere appearance of a quid pro quo payment potentially exposes the us to extortion and hostagetaking the iranians certainly believed it was a ransom payment and more likely than not every twobit dictator on the planet saw it that way as well 
  but there are deeper more troubling aspects to this convoluted story in his january   address to the american people obama tried to put a positive spin on his dealings with the islamic republic but as noted by rick richman in an excellent article featured in mosaic  the deal struck with the iranians was rotten to its core and the administration deliberately kept the american people in the dark about various aspects of the shady arrangement 
  the  million that the us transferred to iran came from irans foreign military sales fms account with the pentagon the balance of  billion ostensibly represented interest accrued since  but obama neglected to note that when iran filed its lawsuit the us filed counterclaim against iran for  million for iranian breaches of its obligations under the fms program the us could have conceivably won that counterclaim which would have meant wooden pallets of cash for the american treasury courtesy of the islamic republic 
  moreover american plaintiffs maintained sixteen us court judgments against the islamic republic stemming from that regimes involvement in terrorist activities those judgments totaled  billion in compensatory and punitive damages 
  some plaintiffs sought to recover their judgments directly from irans fms account but their efforts were stymied by the clinton administration instead under a convoluted deal struck between congress and the clinton administration in  the us treasury was to pay the holders of the judgments against iran for the amount of their compensatory damages and  percent of their punitive damages up to the amount in the fms fund the judgments would then be subrogated to the united states which meant that judgments became direct us claims against the iranian government 
  iran ignored the judgments and never paid any of the plaintiffs under us law the  million sitting in the fms account should have gone back to the us treasury which had already paid the judgment holders but the us treasury never collected a dime on the subrogated claims since obama shipped the money off on wooden pallets to iran essentially the us taxpayer ended up footing the bill for irans terrorism while the iranians were never held accountable for their maleficence 
  obamas actions represented blatant disregard for the law for the victims of terrorism and for the american taxpayer his claim of saving the taxpayer billions represents the zenith of mendacity 
  obama claimed that the payments had to be made in cash because existing sanctions prohibited normal banking procedures but as noted by richman the sanctions regimen expressly permits payments made to settle iranian claims instituted at the hague exposing yet another lie by the obama administration 
  there was one and only one reason why the iranians requested cash and all but the most disingenuous know what that reason is the iranians are the worlds foremost statesponsors of international terrorism they finance terrorist groups and proxy militias throughout the region and internationally but can only do so through illicit means that circumvent normal methods of financing hence they demanded untraceable cash the misery that we are currently witnessing in syria yemen and elsewhere is due in no small part to the obama administration which provided the iranians with the cash necessary to keep operations flowing 
  in addition to the  billion in cash obama also authorized the release of seven convicted iranian felons and expunged warrants on  others but this aspect of the transaction seems almost trivial when considering the sheer mendacity and illegality of nearly every other aspect of the deal 
  lastly the transfer of such a large sum to iran in settlement of an alleged legal claim required the attorney generals approval but the administration has yet to produce any document bearing loretta lynchs signature authorizing such payment on october  sen marco rubio r fla and rep mike pompeo r kan presented lynch with a series of questions seeking clarification of various aspects of the deal lynch whose tenure as attorney general is proving to be as corrupt and partisan as her predecessor has inexplicably refused to answer the lawmakers queries 
  in a desperate attempt to establish a legacy obama pursued the iran deal with reckless abandon forfeiting positions previously regarded as red lines and signing the worst deal in us diplomatic history the ancillary deal struck with the iranians concerning american hostages was laced with outright lies and enabled the iranians to continue their reign or regional terror more importantly it may also have been in violation of existing us law and lynchs stonewalling only lends credence to that notion