More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.
On her MSNBC show on Thursday, host Andrea Mitchell bemoaned the Obama administration’s “unforced error” in sending Iran $400 million at the exact same time American hostages were released from Tehran in January. She was puzzled by the decision: “...they never explained that this other money was going – the $400 million. It’s unrelated to the nuclear deal. Why do it on the same day?”
Washington Post political correspondent Anne Gearan was equally baffled: “It's a mystery why, exactly. They didn't need to do it that day, there was nothing in particular forcing their hand that we know of to do it that day.” She avoided the possibility of the White House paying the money as ransom for the hostages.