Reps. Mcsally, Ratcliffe, Pittenger Call on Doj to Investigate Obama Administration's Relationship With Hezbollah

Press Release

Reps. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), and Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.) are calling on the Justice Department (DOJ) to investigate the Obama administration's actions to thwart the arrest and prosecution of individuals running drug trafficking and money laundering operations to fund Hezbollah.

"Recently uncovered evidence points very directly to a disturbing conclusion: that the Obama administration intentionally shielded the Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah, from an ongoing investigation in order to secure the deeply flawed Iran Deal," said Rep. McSally. "The American people deserve to know whether their President did indeed pick his political agenda over the safety of our country and our allies, allowing the world's most dangerous terrorist group to continue to launder money and traffic illicit drugs to fuel their violence. This letter calls for an investigation into these incriminating facts. Our national security depends on it."

"Obama's nuclear deal with Iran was a bad deal in itself -- and new revelations of the illicit actions that were ignored to secure it are even worse. Unsurprisingly, the Obama administration put politics ahead of justice at the expense of national security. We've got to ensure that painfully misguided decisions like this won't ever happen again," Rep. Ratcliffe said.

"Hezbollah is one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world. The allegations that Obama's administration derailed a major investigation into this barbaric terror group in order to secure the deeply flawed Iran Nuclear deal are shocking and infuriating. We need to get to the bottom of this. The American people deserve to know the truth," Rep. Pittenger said.

The call for an investigation comes on the heels a report released this week that the Obama administration undermined Project Cassandra, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) campaign to target Hezbollah's drug trafficking operations.

Despite evidence that Hezbollah was running a $1-billion-a-year drug and weapons trafficking operation, laundering money and engaging in other criminal activities, Obama administration officials didn't file criminal charges for fear of jeopardizing the prospects of securing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or "Iran Nuclear Deal."

The lawmakers, along with 18 of their colleagues, will formally call on the DOJ to launch an investigation to answer several questions surrounding the matter in January.

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