Darryl Glenn Questions Iranian Payments: Where's the Outrage from Michael Bennet?

Press Release

Every day, it seems like more bad news trickles out regarding payments that the Obama Administration made to Iran. From the cash ransom payments to the wire transfers, this news demonstrates that the Obama Administration and Michael Bennet were clearly ignorant of the threats we now face as a result of a poorly-negotiated Iran Nuclear Deal.

Let's look at what we now know about our taxpayer dollars flowing into Iran:

On January 17, 2016, four Americans detained in Iran were released; the Obama Administration and Michael Bennet paid a $400 million ransom in Swiss francs to free these American hostages.

On August 4, 2016, President Obama justified paying $400 million in foreign cash to free Americans held in Iran because "we could not wire the money" due to the sanctions in place.

On September 17, 2016, the Treasury Department confirmed that in addition to the $400 million in cash, two wire payments were made to Iran in the last 14 months: one in July 2015 for $848,000 and one in April 2016 for $9 million.

It's outrageous that we're sending any taxpayer dollars to Iran, but it's unfathomable that we're wiring money to them that they will then use to potentially harm American lives. Let's not forget that Iran is the world's leading state-sponsor of terrorism.

Let me be clear: we are sending millions of dollars to a country responsible for holding our citizens hostage.

And yet, where's Michael Bennet on this? He's been silent on these payments to Iran-- both the wire transfers and the massive sums of cash-- but he hasn't been silent on his support for the Iran Nuclear Deal. Recently, he told the Denver Post that he thinks "the deal is going well."

Michael and I must have different definitions of a good deal because in my view, it doesn't get worse than this. Unlike Michael Bennet, I don't think this is a good deal. In fact, I firmly believe we should never negotiate with terrorists. Period.

A good deal protects Americans, not one that enables a terrorist state to do us further harm. A good deal is one that will help the cause of liberty and aid in support of our allies, not one that jeopardizes the safety and security of our friend Israel.

As someone who's served this great country-- and would do so again if called upon-- I will not stand for negotiating bad deals with Iran. I will not further enable Iran by providing them money to potentially harm our military and our citizens abroad. That's why when I'm Colorado's next U.S. Senator, I will call for a repeal of the Iran Nuclear Deal.

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