GOP House members wrote a letter to Acting Inspector General Diana Show on Wednesday urging for an investigation into the ties between former Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran. The Daily Caller first obtained the letter.
Led by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., Republican Reps. Andy Barr of Kentucky and Lee Zeldin of New York allude to a report by The New York Times based on a leaked audio recording saying Kerry informed Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Israel had launched attacks against Iranian personnel in Syria more than 200 times. On Monday, Kerry denied the allegations.
“I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened – either when I was secretary of state or since,” Kerry tweeted.
I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened – either when I was Secretary of State or since. https://t.co/BTOdFE1khW
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) April 26, 2021
“We write to draw your attention to recent allegations surrounding United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry,” the letter to Shaw states. “We are appalled by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s claim that Mr. Kerry, as Secretary of State, revealed Israel’s covert attacks on Iranian interests in Syria. Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, the United States’ key ally in the Middle East, and it has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to attack Israel directly, both through proxies and from its positions in Syria. Given the gravity of the security threat Iran poses to U.S. and Israeli interests, we respectfully ask that you fully investigate these allegations.”
Zeldin told The Federalist that the Department of State needs to investigate “the massively alarming allegations.”
“The State Department must investigate the massively alarming allegations that John Kerry leaked information to Iran on covert Israeli military operations. If it’s proven that Kerry actively undermined one of America’s staunchest allies, he needs to resign from the Biden administration immediately and have his security clearance revoked,” Zeldin said.
Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Kerry had been speaking with Iran before the 2020 election and had told officials to wait until President Trump was out of office to negotiate with the United States.
“It looks like from this reporting that it’s confirmed what we already believed, which was when I was briefing President Trump, Kerry was briefing Zarif on intelligence that related to Israeli operations,” Pompeo said. “I hope that’s not true. John Kerry needs to come forward, Secretary Kerry needs to speak to the American people and explain to them why he was meeting with Zarif.”
Trump accused Kerry in 2019 of violating The Logan Act in his negotiations with Iran. The act, signed in 1799, is a federal law that makes it a felony for people without authorization from the U.S. government to have negotiations with governments not on good terms with the United States. It was raised against former Trump advisor Michael Flynn when he discussed foreign affairs with world leaders as a member of Trump’s transition team.
Source: The Federalist
