EXCLUSIVE: The Obama-Biden Administration's State Department “actively intervened” to block the FBI from executing arrest warrants against individuals illegally in the U.S. suspected of helping Iran fund weapons of mass destruction, a whistleblower tells Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson.
Fox News Digital has obtained letters sent on this matter from Senators Grassley (R-Iowa) and Johnson (R-Wis.) to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The Obama-Biden administration launched the Joint Plan of Action, which served as a negotiating process for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, which then-President Obama signed in 2015. At the time, President Obama said the broader sanctions would remain in place and that the administration would “continue to aggressively enforce them.”
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For decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the United States has imposed sanctions on “Iranian individuals, entities and organisations for their involvement in nuclear proliferation, ballistic missile development, support for terrorist groups and human rights abuses.”
Then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of State John Kerry pictured with President Barack Obama in 2016 (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
But Grassley and Johnson say they obtained unclassified, legally protected whistleblower information that shows that “while the Obama-Biden administration pledged to 'prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon by raising the costs of its international defying the community,' then-Secretary of State John Kerry actively interfered with Federal Law Enforcement's efforts to execute arrest warrants against individuals supporting Iran's illegal efforts in the United States, including funding its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.”
The senators said the records show that the Justice Department and FBI leadership, including then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, “failed to take necessary steps to stop Kelly's obstruction of law enforcement.”
One email (an unclassified FBI email dated August 25, 2017) details at least eight cases related to the Iran nuclear deal, stating that “the FBI/DOJ/US Government could have moved forward with the case, but the State Department chose to block it.”
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei inspected Iran's nuclear development achievements on Sunday, June 11. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran/WANA/Reuters)
In six of those cases, the FBI “missed opportunities to arrest the principal perpetrators,” according to the records.
The email said one of the suspects the FBI was unable to arrest “was on a terrorism watch list” and another “had returned to Iran.”
The email also states that the State Department “thwarted” an FBI plan to arrest the individual while he was “in flight” and was forced to leave the US immediately upon arrival.
John Kerry resigned as Biden's special envoy for climate change earlier this year. (Foreign Press Center)
The email states that at least two of the targets were arrested “after the state unblocked them…. [Trump] The government has been formed.”
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“Warnings about failed attempts to arrest Iranians for whom arrest warrants were available date back to early 2015 and were allegedly politically motivated,” Grassley wrote.
“Concerns were raised regarding a cease and desist order to apprehend Iranian criminals,” the July 2015 email said.
Email from an FBI employee to an FBI employee in the Los Angeles field office, with the subject line “HQ Support.”
An April 28, 2016 email stated: “The State Department has been blocking FBI actions where it has played an authorizing or consenting role, primarily visa and kidnapping operations. We have prepared packages for several cases that were blocked by the State Department and have been working up the FBI/DOJ/DO State chain over the past six months.”
The email also said the Department of Justice was “somewhat surprised by this as extradition is a ministerial function and not something the Department of State blocks.”
Senators Grassley and Johnson said additional unclassified FBI emails show that the State Department's alleged interference in an ongoing FBI investigation became such an issue that then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch had to discuss the matter with Secretary of State John Kerry.
An unclassified email dated April 29, 2016, contains a summary of a meeting between then-Attorney General Lynch and Secretary of State Kerry: “…now is not a 'good time' to seek approval for extradition or kidnapping in the Iranian Communist Party case,” the email said.
Another email from May 3, 2016 described “tensions” between Lynch and Kelly: “…PC [Principals Committee] When the meeting ended, Kelly packed his bags and stormed out without any negotiation with the Attorney General. The issue remains unresolved.”
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“The records provided to us demonstrate that the Obama/Biden State Department, under the direction of John Kerry, actively and relentlessly obstructed the FBI's efforts to lawfully arrest known terrorists, members of Iran's nuclear proliferation network, and other criminals providing material support to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Reps. Grassley and Johnson wrote.
Senators Grassley and Johnson said the records “also show that leadership at the Department of Justice and the FBI tolerated this until the Trump Administration changed course.”
Loretta Lynch served as attorney general during the final two years of the Obama administration (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)
And a Nov. 29, 2016 email from Shell to FBI officials in Comey's office read:
“Trump's election victory seems to be affecting business in Iran. We are scheduled to sign a small contract (a $5 million license agreement) in Iran this week. We were in discussions with a Japanese bank about handling the funds, but they recently unofficially backed out due to Trump's inauguration. European banks are thinking the same. The amount is small, but it is having a negative impact on business in Iran.”
Also included in the email was former FBI employee Peter Strzok.
Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson said the Justice Department allowed the State Department to halt Iran-related arrests until Trump took office (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
Senators Grassley and Johnson are currently demanding the submission of email archive records from Secretary of State Kerry, current CIA Director Bill Burns, Wendy Sherman, and current Secretary of State Antony Blinken by June 4th.
They are also demanding records of Mohammed Javaz Zarif, the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran Nuclear Deal, Iranian proliferation/non-proliferation, law enforcement actions concerning Iranian nationals including visa inducements, extradition and related matters, as well as files of the eight cases mentioned.
Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley are seeking more information about cases of alleged Obama State Department interference that the FBI failed to pursue (Graham Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The FBI and Department of Justice confirmed they received Grassley's letter, but both declined to comment further.
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Brooke Singman is a political reporter and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.