More than a dozen GOP senators wrote a letter to the Trump administration Friday asking for additional information about the individuals whose crimes were pardoned as part of the Iran prisoner swap prior to the nuclear deal.
Republican Senators David Perdue of Georgia; James Inhofe of Oklahoma; Thom Tillis of North Carolina; John Boozman of Arkansas; Ben Sasse of Nebraska; Roger Wicker of Mississippi; Johnny Isakson of Georgia; Marco Rubio of Florida; Ted Cruz of Texas; Mike Lee of Utah; Mike Rounds of South Dakota; and Tim Scott of South Carolina raised concerns about events leading up to the Obama administration’s granting clemency to seven people and dropping charges against 14 fugitives.
“Based on new reports, we are concerned that President Obama and certain previous administration officials intentionally suppressed the seriousness of the charges against these individuals in order to garner public support for the nuclear deal with Iran, and we fear that these individuals may still pose a threat to the national security of the United States,” the letter stated.
A report in late April found some of those who were pardoned had aided Iran’s illegal procurement network for microelectronics with applications for surface-to-air and cruise missiles.
The 13 senators asked State Secretary Rex Tillerson, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to send them the current whereabouts of all involved criminals, whether anyone is still working on Iran’s nuclear program, and whether former President Barack Obama’s administration stopped investigating aspects of the Iranian procurement networks in the U.S.
