Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday accused President Trump’s team of “interfering” with the Obama administration before the inauguration.
Sitting down for an interview in Texas, Kerry said before Trump was sworn in, the incoming administration messed with the Obama government’s efforts to make a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
“This administration which — actually was engaged in interfering with the Obama administration after the election before they were sworn in relative to Palestine-Israel where Jared Kushner, the president, and others were all engaged in trying to stop the administration from doing what it was doing,” he said at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
“They need to be careful what kind of accusations they throw around,” he continued, pointing to GOP senators, who in 2015 wrote a letter to Iranian leaders while the Obama administration negotiated the nuclear deal.
Kerry has been criticized in recent days after he said he met “three or four times” with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which he helped broker.
Trump, who has abandoned the agreement and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian regime, accused Kerry of having “illegal meetings.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called Kerry’s ongoing talks with Iran “anti-American.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Kerry broke the law by violating the Logan Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Kerry has said he was not “coaching” Iran on how to respond to the Trump administration policies.
