The Obama administration repeatedly denied there was any connection between the $400 million cash payment to Iran, delivered by plan in January, and the release of four American prisoners, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian.
As it turns out, they weren’t really telling the truth. The administration was forced to admit last week that the cash payment was directly linked to the release of the prisoners. Critics have pointed out that this arrangement sounds a lot like a “ransom.”
State Department: We were only going to pay Iran $400 million if they released the prisoners https://t.co/N21siP881a pic.twitter.com/cTHB1qElDX
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) August 18, 2016
The administration’s defenders, including Vox dot com reporters, have pointed out that it really wasn’t a “ransom” because State Department spokesman John Kirby said it wasn’t a ransom.
Don't tweet headlines. The actual AP articles shows that it's *not a goddamn ransom* https://t.co/bxBwKNGB3F pic.twitter.com/dnQpnEn1nY
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) August 18, 2016
Why wouldn’t he be telling the truth?
