The Iran nuclear deal is “nothing but a series of bribes and secret agreements,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Wednesday, responding to a Wall Street Journal report exposing the Obama administration’s secret cash payment of $400 million in exchange for three Americans held in Tehran in January:
“The revelation that the Obama administration ransomed the three Americans being unjustly detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran with $400 million in cash is only the most recent piece of evidence that the so-called nuclear deal with the mullahs is fundamentally illegitimate.
“It is nothing but a series of bribes and secret agreements that will do nothing to prevent Iran from reaching nuclear capability, yet will provide funding for their sponsorship of terrorism and encourage them to detain more of our citizens.”
Sen. Cruz called for the deal to be swiftly voided to avoid additional harm to the United States:
“This ‘deal’ should be ripped to shreds immediately before more damage is done.”
For its part, the White House is defending the ransom payment by echoing former Sec. of State Hillary’s “What difference, at this point, does it make?” Benghazi defense.
Like Clinton, Earnest argued that the story is too old to merit inquiry:
“This is a new detail on an old story,” “Why is that relevant? Why is that relevant?,” White House Press Sec. Josh Earnest snapped at CBS reporter CBS reporter Margaret Brennan when she asked for details of the ransom payment. “