Proving again that Joe Biden couldn't read a room if it was his only job on earth, the administration notified Congress on Monday — the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 innocent people on U.S. soil — that it had signed off on a deal last week to unfreeze $6 billion for the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism — Iran — as part of a prisoner swap that saw five U.S. citizens freed by the regime in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody.
According to The Associated Press:
The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week, but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday, according to the notification, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The waiver is likely to draw criticism of President Joe Biden from Republicans and others that the deal will boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to U.S. troops and Mideast allies.
Not only is the deal a massive payday of needed resources for the normally pariah-status regime in Tehran, it is an utterly asinine deal that only further incentivizes Iran and its proxies to continue targeting U.S. citizens for abduction and detention. The Biden administration's deal sends a dangerous message directly to Iran and its tyrannical regime: each U.S. citizen held captive by Iran is worth one Iranian citizen held in the U.S. plus some $1.2 billion.
As Townhall reported at the end of August, a letter from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik demanded answers from President Biden about an apparent "nuclear understanding" with Iran that involves this hostage swap and payday for the regime in what the Republican lawmakers say is a violation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.
Lawmakers expressed the "significant concern" they have with recent reports about Iran's activities and the Biden administration's deal with the regime. Specifically, Iran has reportedly "diluted a small amount of 60% enriched uranium in recent weeks and slowed the rate at which it is accumulating new material" which coincided with reports of the "deal for Iran to release five American hostages in exchange for several Iranian prisoners and access to at least $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in South Korea and potentially billions more held in Iraq."
"Taken together, this strongly suggests your Administration has contemporaneously brokered a $6 billion prisoner deal and a nuclear 'understanding' with the regime that are inextricably linked," the letter from lawmakers explained. "This would be a clear violation of your Administration’s legal obligation under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (“INARA”; 42 U.S.C. 2160e), which requires you to submit any 'agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran' requiring U.S. action 'regardless of the form it takes, whether a political commitment or otherwise, and regardless of whether it is legally binding or not' (42 U.S.C. 2160e(h)(1)) to Congress for formal review within five days."
This is a developing story and may be updated.