Milwaukee City Wire

On May 23, 2024, U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released unclassified internal FBI emails and whistleblower disclosures alleging that former Secretary of State John Kerry obstructed multiple FBI arrest operations to further negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.

The senators' records indicate that the Obama-Biden administration’s State Department, under Kerry's leadership, interfered with FBI operations concerning lawful arrests of individuals linked to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "The records provided to our offices show that the Obama/Biden administration’s State Department, under the leadership of John Kerry, actively and persistently interfered with FBI operations pertaining to lawful arrests of known terrorists, members of Iranian proliferation networks, and other criminals providing material support for Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs," wrote Sens. Johnson and Grassley in letters addressed to the State Department, Justice Department, and the FBI. They further stated, "The records also show that DOJ and FBI leadership apparently allowed it to happen until the Trump administration altered course."

According to these records, between 2015 and 2016, the State Department instructed the FBI to stand down on arrests in eight cases due to “on-going politics.” One case involved an Iranian subject on the Terrorism Watch List. The political considerations led the FBI to delay actions until US-Iran negotiations were resolved. Upon taking office, the Trump administration lifted these blocks on FBI arrests, leading to successful captures of two Iranian targets.

The records suggest that actions directed by former Secretary Kerry compromised national security by hindering FBI law enforcement efforts against Iran. Despite this interference, then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch did not halt Kerry's directives.

For more details about Sens. Johnson and Grassley’s May 21 letters to federal departments regarding this matter, readers are referred to Fox News.