MAJORITY STAFF REPORT

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

CHAIRMAN CHARLES E. GRASSLEY

MARCH 4, 2025

STATE DEPARTMENT OBSTRUCTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST
IRAN’S WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION AND BALLISTIC MISSILE PROGRAMS
UNDER THEN-SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY

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Brief History of U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

For over two decades, Republican and Democratic administrations imposed sanctions on
Iran “to deter, constrain, and encourage change in the adversarial behavior of the Iranian regime,
including its support for international terrorism, nuclear and missile development programs and
proliferation activities, destabilizing regional interventions, and human rights abuses.”1  Further,
“Congress has played a leading role in shaping U.S. policy, enacting legislation to authorize and
oversee successive Administrations’ implementation of Iran-related sanctions.”2  As
international concerns heightened about Iran’s nuclear program, “Congress, beginning in 2010,
increased the scope of U.S. sanctions.”3  Through these authorities, “Congress mandated that to
waive or lift sanctions, the President must certify that Iran is meeting certain conditions,
including that the Iranian government has ceased its support of international terrorism and its
proliferation activities.”4

Obama-Biden Administration Softens U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

In November 2013, the Obama-Biden administration began its Joint Plan of Action,

which served as the negotiating process for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.5  Then-President Obama declared on November 23,
2013, “the broader architecture of sanctions will remain in place and we will continue to enforce
them vigorously.”6  Congress also took a strong stance against Iran and expressed its intent to
ensure the Obama-Biden administration held Iran accountable.  On May 22, 2015, the House and
Senate communicated Congress’s intent to hold Iran accountable when it passed the Iran Nuclear
Agreement Review Act of 2015 with a provision that stated:

he President may not waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from,
or otherwise limit the application of statutory sanctions with respect
to Iran under any provision of law or refrain from applying any such
sanctions pursuant to an agreement described in subsection (a).7

1 Congressional Research Service, U.S. Sanctions on Iran, (Jul. 20, 2023),
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12452.
2 Id.
3 Id.
4 Id.
5 Media Note, Implementation of the Joint Plan of Action from November 24, 2013 in Geneva between the P5+1 and
The Islamic Republic of Iran and Provision of Limited, Temporary, and Targeted Sanctions Relief, Archived
Content: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, (Jan. 20, 2014), https://2009-
2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/01/220054.htm.
6 Press Release, Statement By The President On First Step Agreement On Iran’s Nuclear Program, THE WHITE
HOUSE: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, (Nov. 23, 2013), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-
office/2013/11/23/statement-president-first-step-agreement-irans-nuclear-program.
7 This limitation on the President applied to the time period of the initial congressional review of a nuclear
agreement with Iran, 12 calendar days following the date of a joint resolution of disapproval passed in both houses,
and 10 days following the President’s veto of a joint resolution of disapproval passed by both houses.  Iran Nuclear
Agreement Review Act of 2015, Pub. Law 114-17.  The time for Congressional review would be 60 days if the
President transmitted the deal to Congress between July 10, 2015, and September 7, 2015.  The congressional
review began during this time period on July 14, 2015, when President Obama announced the Iran Nuclear Deal and
stated, “Congress will now have an opportunity to review the details, and my administration stands ready to provide

On July 14, 2015, the Obama-Biden administration finalized negotiations with China,

France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the EU, and Iran (P5+1) on the Iran Nuclear Deal.8  In
describing the Iran Nuclear Deal’s effect on U.S. sanctions against Iran, President Obama said:

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We still have sanctions on Iran for its violations of human rights, for
its support of terrorism, and for its ballistic missile program.  And
we will continue to enforce these sanctions, vigorously .  Iran’s recent missile test, for example, was a violation of its
international  obligations.    And  as  a  result,  the  United  States  is
imposing  sanctions  on  individuals  and  companies  working  to
advance  Iran’s  ballistic  missile  program.    And  we  are  going  to
remain vigilant about it.9

On July 23, 2015, then-Secretary of State John Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on the terms and implementation of the Iran Nuclear Deal.10  According to
the hearing testimony, in response to questions about the continuation of U.S. sanctions and
export restrictions on Iran under the terms of the Iran Nuclear Deal, then-Secretary Kerry
testified that the Iranians are “restrained from any sharing of missile technology, purchase of
missile technology, exchange of missile technology, work on missiles.”11  Then-Secretary Kerry
stated the Iran Nuclear Deal does not prevent the U.S. from using “our authorities to impose
sanctions on Iran for terrorism, human rights, missiles or any other non-nuclear reason” and
“does not provide Iran any relief from U.S. sanctions under any of those authorities or other
authorities, mind you.”12  In response to questions about U.S. military commanders criticizing
the Iran Nuclear Deal for potentially lifting U.S. embargos and restrictions on Iran obtaining
missile technology for its ballistics program, then-Secretary Kerry testified the U.S. has:

Additional capacities to be able to deal with missiles.  We have the
lethal  military  equipment  sanctions  provision  in  the  Foreign
Assistance Act.  We have the Iran’s – the 1996 Iran Sanction Act.
We have the Iran/Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act.  We have – those
are unilateral tools, by the way.

We  have  a  bunch  of  multilateral  tools,  the  Proliferation  Security
Initiative  with  100  countries  which  works  to  help  limit  Iranian

extensive briefings on how this will move forward.  As the American people and Congress review the deal, it will be
important to consider the alternative.”  Press Release, Statement By The President On Iran, THE WHITE HOUSE:
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, (July 14, 2015), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-
office/2015/07/14/statement-president-iran.
8 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, State Archives, (last accessed Mar. 3, 2025), https://2009-
2017.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/iran/jcpoa/.
9 President Barrack Obama, Statement by the President on Iran, THE WHITE HOUSE, (Jan. 17, 2016),
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/17/statement-president-iran.
10 Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iran Nuclear Agreement Review, (Jul. 23, 2015),
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/iran-nuclear-agreement-review.
11 Id.
12 Id.

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missile-related  imports  and  exports.    We  have  the  missile  control
technology regime, which does a lot to prevent the growth of any
missile  capacity.    So,  you  know,  there  are  many  things  we  will
continue to do, but it didn’t go away.  We actually kept it.  And we
kept  it  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  three  out  of  seven  of  the
negotiating parties wanted to get rid of it altogether.  We kept it.13

On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA was implemented.14  That same day the Obama-Biden
administration announced a prisoner swap with Iran, where five Americans imprisoned in Iran
were freed in exchange for the release of seven Iranians detained or indicted in the U.S.15
However, subsequent reports would reveal that the full scope of the prisoner swap also coincided
with a $1.7 billion cash payment to the Iranian government and the Justice Department dropping
charges and international arrest warrants against 14 fugitives supporting Iran’s Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.16  Reports quote the Obama-Biden
administration describing the dropping of the charges as the U.S. “remov any Interpol red
notices and dismiss any charges against 14 Iranians for whom it was assessed that
extradition requests were unlikely to be successful.”17  However, legally protected whistleblower
disclosures paint a more alarming picture.  Those disclosures noted that “Kerry and the State
Department sold out the safety of Americans and our allies when they provided $1.7 billion in
cash to Iran which, unsurprisingly, Iran used to continue development of their weapons programs
and to better equip and fund their proxies.”18  The disclosures noted that, “the death and
destruction seen on October 7, 2023, is only one of the tragic results from providing this cash to
Iran and from the State Department, DOJ leadership, and FBI Director Comey systematically
obstructing Iranian investigations and prosecutions for years.”19

The whistleblower disclosures further noted that at the same time then-President Obama

and then-Secretary Kerry made assurance to maintain an aggressive stance against Iran, “Iran
illegally obtained U.S. technology and components used to make improvised explosive devices
in Iraq and elsewhere to kill U.S. military personnel.  Similarly, Iran illegally obtained U.S.
components for missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other types of military equipment.”20

13 Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iran Nuclear Agreement Review, (Jul. 23, 2015),
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/iran-nuclear-agreement-review.
14 State Department Archives, supra note 8.
15 The White House, Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on Iran, (Jan. 17, 2016),
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/17/press-call-senior-administration-officials-iran;
Nahal Toosi, Iran Releases 5 Detained Americans, Including Washington Post Reporter, POLITICO, (January 16,
2016), https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/iran-prisoners-217875.
16 Louis Nelson, U.S. wire payments to Iran undercut Obama, POLITICO, (Sep. 18, 2016),
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/us-iran-payments-wire-transfer-228324#ixzz4KhjmXpzD; Josh Meyer,
Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017), https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-
iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-release-236966.
17 Josh Meyer, Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017),
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-release-236966.
18 On file with Comm. staff.
19 On file with Comm. staff.
20 On file with Comm. staff.

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The whistleblower disclosures claimed this should have been stopped as “Iran’s efforts were
known to the Obama-Biden administration when they decided to soften sanctions by seriously
undermining and blocking enforcement of laws prohibiting the sale or transfer of U.S.
technology to Iran which used the components to make WMDs and other military-use
weapons.”21  The disclosures noted that “FBI’s objective, professional assessment was that Iran
would continue to purchase U.S. components for lethal weapons and, as a result of the JCPOA
deal, would have even more funds and avenues for illegal, U.S. technology procurement.  The
death and destruction caused by Iran and their proxies the last few years was foreseen and
preventable.”22

In addition to these accounts, the unclassified legally protected whistleblower disclosures

in this memorandum show that while the Obama-Biden administration publicly committed to
“preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon” while the U.S. maintained its “own sanctions
related to Iran’s support for terrorism, its ballistic missile program, and its human rights
violations,”23 then-Secretary of State John Kerry actively interfered with and obstructed the FBI
and other federal law enforcement agencies from pursuing and executing arrest warrants on
individuals illegally supporting Iranian efforts, including financial efforts, to develop its WMD
and ballistic missile programs.  Further, the unclassified records and public reports raise serious
questions concerning the Obama-Biden administration’s justification that extradition was
unlikely for granting amnesty to the 14 fugitives indicted for violating U.S. sanctions and export
restrictions.

State Department Obstructs Justice Department Law Enforcement Efforts Against Iran

According to unclassified FBI email records, before and after the Iran Nuclear Deal was
finalized, the State Department prevented the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement agencies from
enforcing U.S. sanctions and export control violations against Iranians and actively obstructed
their pursuit to arrest these individuals.24  Whistleblower disclosures noted that, “Obama-Biden
administration officials in the State Department and DOJ refused to allow already-indicted
criminals investigated for years from being arrested on lawfully issued arrest warrants.”25  The
disclosures further stated that “these were de facto pardons, not standard, straightforward uses of
prosecutorial discretion.”26  The records indicate this obstruction was pervasive as FBI email
records show that State and Justice Department officials blocked the FBI’s efforts since April
2015 to arrest Iranians indicted for sanctions and export violations, and Justice Department
leadership offered little or inconsistent guidance on how the FBI was to overcome this
obstacle.27

21 On file with Comm. staff.
22 On file with Comm. staff.
23 Speech, President Obama on Iran Nuclear Deal, U.S. Department of State, (Jul. 15, 2015),
https://id.usembassy.gov/statement-by-president-obama-on-iran-nuclear-deal/.
24 Exhibit A.
25 On file with Comm. staff.
26 On file with Comm. staff.
27 Exhibit A.

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According to unclassified FBI email records, the FBI initially believed that State’s failure

to issue visas to lure Iranians to the U.S. for arrest and prosecution for supporting Iran’s WMD
and ballistic missile programs in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws was in part due to
the agenda of a particular government bureaucrat, then-Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs, Wendy Sherman.  The records show the FBI believed Sherman was responsible for
telling the FBI to “stand down from pushing State on visa issuance due to ‘other sensitivities.’”28
At the time, Sherman led the U.S. negotiations team that reached the agreement on the Iranian
Nuclear Deal.29

28 Exhibit B.
29 Press Release, Biography: Wendy R. Sherman, STATE DEPARTMENT, (Jul. 28, 2023),
https://www.state.gov/biographies/wendy-r-sherman; Press Release, Robert Allan Jones Named Special Agent in
Charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office, FBI, (Jun. 19, 2018), https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/robert-allan-
jones-named-special-agent-in-charge-of-the-pittsburgh-field-office.

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FBI and DOJ email records indicate the FBI was frustrated that Sherman blocked its

ability to arrest a high value Iranian target.  The FBI eventually elevated the matter to the
Assistant Attorney General (AAG) level, specifically saying the request to lure the target to the
U.S. “should go to the  for decision-makers and not be left to
Sherman....”30

30 Exhibit B.

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Additional records show the FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security
Division’s (NSD) efforts to escalate the situation to the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) and
Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) levels in order to stop the State Department from
interfering in the FBI investigation failed.31  The records show officials from the FBI and NSD
believed these issues needed to be elevated at the highest level to then-Attorney General Lynch
and then-Deputy Attorney General Yates, which they ultimately did.32  However, as the records
indicate, State’s efforts to obstruct the FBI from arresting the high-value Iranian target
succeeded.33

In addition to obstructing the FBI from making lawful arrests of individuals indicted for

U.S. sanctions and export violations, the records show that State Department officials also
blocked the Justice Department’s NSD Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES)
from moving forward with Grand Jury indictments of Iranians violating U.S. sanctions and
export laws without “exigent circumstances,” which the records indicate were “a direct
contradiction to…the notes sent down from HQ.”34  These notes provided that “such actions are
not precluded or restricted” by ongoing State Department negotiations with Iran.35

31 Exhibit B.
32 Id.
33 Id.
34 Exhibit A.
35 Id.; See also, Department of Justice, 9-90.010 - Export Control and Sanctions Enforcement Policy for Business
Organizations, DOJ Justice Manual, (Dec. 2020), https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-90000-national-security (“The
Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) of the National Security Division under the supervision of the

Page 8 of 24

While the Obama-Biden administration’s State Department publicly proclaimed the U.S.

would continue its aggressive position against Iran, to include sanctions, “because of their
activities around the world that are connected to terrorism or human rights or other missile-
related activity;” 36 unclassified emails show State actively worked behind the scenes to prevent
U.S. law enforcement from doing exactly that.  The records show the Obama-Biden State
Department put political considerations of the Iran Nuclear Deal above U.S. national security.

Then-Secretary of State Kerry Was Directly Involved in
Obstructing Law Enforcement Efforts Against Iran

Based on whistleblower disclosures to my office, “for the benefit of Iran, Kerry and the

State Department conducted an unprecedented campaign to prevent and obstruct enforcement of
laws prohibiting the sale or transfer of U.S. technology to Iran.  Their actions were direct
violations of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 and were concealed in order to
circumvent congressional oversight of the Executive Branch’s violation of law.”37  The
disclosures explained that “Secretary Kerry and his State Department protected the personal and

AAG or a higher authority, conducts, handles, and supervises prosecutions” related to export controls and sanctions
violations.).
36 Wendy R. Sherman, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Briefing to the Press on the Iran Nuclear Deal, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, (Jul. 16, 2015), https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/us/rm/2015/245007.htm.
37 On file with Comm. staff.

Page 9 of 24

financial interests of a particular, high-ranking Iranian government official and the Iranian
regime.”38

Unclassified FBI email records support these disclosures and show efforts by State to
circumvent the enforcement of U.S. sanctions and export restrictions against Iran, due to the
political considerations of the Iran Nuclear Deal, came directly from then-Secretary Kerry.  For
example, according to unclassified FBI emails, on July 2, 2015, DOJ Attorney Dave Recker told
FBI personnel that Justice Department CES was required to raise requests to arrest indicted
Iranians to the Justice and State Departments concurrently.39  These records show that FBI
officials found this concurrent approval process out of the ordinary and FBI officials did not
understand why these arrests needed to be raised by DOJ leadership with State in the first
place.40  According to these emails, FBI personnel discussed Recker’s comments  “that all of the
Iran proliferation cases are being discussed and decided by a small group of Justice Department
officials and State Department officials due to the implications that it could have on the pending
Nuclear negotiations with Iran.”41  The records say that Recker relayed to the FBI personnel that
the Justice Department officials that “participated in these discussions,  Luke
Demboski (DAAG), Bruce Swartz (NSD OIA) and Mary Rodriguez (NSD OIA)” and their
counterparts from State.42  Moreover, the records show Recker “was aware of one instance
where the Secretary of State personally told DOJ officials that they were to stand down on an
arrest.”43

The email record further indicates Recker also made this accusation against then-
Secretary Kerry during an earlier internal Justice Department conference call concerning State’s
approval process for Iranian sanction violation cases being “based on the possible implications
that an arrest could possibly have  the current negotiations with Iran.”44  The email records
show the FBI became increasingly frustrated, internally emailing  “e are all beside ourselves
on asking the field to stand down on a layup arrest, however as it stands right now we all have to
sit back and wait until all the US and Iran negotiations resolve themselves.”45  Then-Secretary
Kerry’s alleged direct political interference in law enforcement activity relating to U.S. sanctions
and export restrictions against Iran came just weeks before his aforementioned testimony in front
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the negotiated agreement “does not provide Iran
any relief from U.S. sanctions.”46

38 On file with Comm. staff.
39 Exhibit C.
40 Id.
41 Id.
42 Id.
43 Id.
44 Id.
45 Exhibit D.
46 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing, supra note 10.

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Nearly three months after the Iran Nuclear Agreement was finalized, on October 7, 2015,

David H. Laufman, Chief of CES, sent an unclassified memo to the National Security/Anti-
Terrorism Advisory Council Coordinators transmitting guidance regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal
and criminal investigations and prosecutions of sanction violators.47  Unclassified FBI emails
show that while the JCPOA culminated in July 2015, “sanctions against Iran are still in effect
and to be enforced by the US Government.”48

47 Exhibit E.
48 Exhibit F.

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As implementation day for the Iran Nuclear Deal approached, FBI and DOJ email records
demonstrate that the Justice Department was concerned about the lack of coordination with State
regarding the enforcement of sanctions and the arrest of individuals supporting Iran’s WMD
program.49  Unclassified FBI and DOJ email records from December 17, 2015, show that FBI
and Justice Department CES officials requested to meet with State’s then-Assistant Secretary for
International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), Thomas Countryman, to coordinate efforts
between the FBI and State concerning the enforcement of sanctions related to Iran’s WMD
program, given implementation day for the Iran Nuclear deal on January 16, 2016, was
approaching.50  However, email records show that State official Tom Shannon’s office instructed
Countryman not to meet with the FBI on this issue.51

49 Exhibit G.
50 Id.  State Department, Biography: Thomas M. Countryman, Senior Officials Bios archived https://2009-
2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/174947.htm (The ISN Bureau leads the U.S. effort to prevent the spread of nuclear,
chemical, and biological weapons, their related materials, and their delivery systems.).
51 Exhibit G.

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Page 13 of 24

The records also show this matter was shared with FBI leadership.  Then-Assistant
Section Chief of the FBI Counterproliferation Center in the Counterintelligence Division (CD) at
FBI HQ, Stacey Moy, emailed an update on the situation with State to Counterintelligence
Deputy Assistant Director Richard Kollmar to be shared with the Executive Assistant Director
(EAD).  That update explained State’s failure to participate in these interagency efforts directly
impacted Justice Department and FBI guidance about continuing the enforcement of U.S.
sanctions and export restrictions on Iran.52  From then-Assistant Section Chief Moy:

Moy included in this same email to Kollmar a forwarded email exchange between

himself and Jay Bratt at NSD indicating the FBI believed State’s refusal to engage on issues
related to Iranian WMD investigations was so egregious and a threat to U.S. national security

52 Exhibit H.

that Moy told Justice Department officials, “I’d recommend our FBI-side document should there
ever be a special investigation/hearing etc. on why FBI could not action law, and potentially
prevent national security incident….”53

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Additionally, it’s been alleged to my staff that FBI personnel spoke and corresponded

with FBI attorneys asking whether State’s obstruction was unlawful and the attorneys responded
that it was.54  Specifically, whistleblower disclosures to my office noted “when individual FBI
attorneys agreed that the obstruction from the State Department, DOJ leadership, and FBI
Director Comey violated the law, they were prohibited from putting it in writing.”55

State Continues Obstructing Law Enforcement Action Against
Iranians After Implementation Day

Following the January 2016 implementation of the Iranian Nuclear Deal, records show

Obama-Biden State officials continued to slow roll and prevent the FBI from pursuing cases
involving individuals violating U.S. sanctions and export restrictions on Iran, even as these cases
were supposedly not affected by the Iranian Nuclear Deal.  According to whistleblower
disclosures, the FBI felt misled by State and DOJ stating:

State Department and DOJ officials deliberately and falsely led us
to believe their interference was to protect the negotiations leading
up  to  the  JCPOA  and  there  would  be  no  interference  after
implementation  day  of  the  deal.    That  was  false.    State  and  DOJ

53 Exhibit H.
54 On file with Comm. staff.
55 On file with Comm. staff.

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interference continued as we watched Iran violate the deal itself and
continue to illegally procure U.S. components for their military.56

Even State’s own staff was confused by the continued obstruction.  For example, according to a
State email sent on March 1, 2016, State official Samantha Boyer conceded to the FBI that the
Bureau had a “very solid case” and “it’s a little like WTF that it’s being held up (if you’ll excuse
the phrasing).  However it is what it is.”57

56 On file with Comm. staff.
57 Exhibit I.

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As State continued to obstruct FBI law enforcement efforts after implementation day,

email records from April 2016 show then-AG Loretta Lynch raised this issue directly with then-
Secretary Kerry.58  FBI emails describe the situation as the “meeting between Secretary Kerry
and the AG didn’t go well for us” and “now is not a ‘good time’ to be requesting approvals for
extraditions or lures on Iran CP  cases.”59  Another email from May 3,
2016, describes the tension between the AG and then-Secretary Kerry as “when the PC
 ended, Kerry packed up his stuff and rushed out without engaging with
the AG at all.  The issues remain unresolved.”60

Even though then-Secretary Kerry continued avoiding discussion of Iranian cases with

AG Lynch, an unclassified email sent on September 12, 2016, from Justice Department NSD to
FBI CD shows that officials in the Justice Department continued to push the AG to raise these
issues with then-Secretary Kerry.61  Despite constant pushback and obstruction from State and a
lack of support from Justice Department leadership, FBI agents and DOJ personnel continued
pursuing cases against Iranians.62

58 Exhibit J.
59 Id. (used in prior letter).
60 Exhibit K (used in prior letter).
61 Exhibit L.
62 Id.

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However, State’s actions did have a chilling effect on FBI and DOJ law enforcement
initiatives.  For example, according to whistleblower disclosures, “The State Department and
Obama-Biden administration officials persistently and systematically derailed criminal and
national security investigations, creating a shadow amnesty program that protected scores of
additional Iranian criminals.  FBI offices abandoned dozens of Iran-related investigations and
U.S. Attorneys shut down prosecutions after recognizing the State Department and DOJ
obstruction would thwart effective enforcement efforts.”63

14 Fugitives Granted Amnesty by Obama-Biden Administration

As previously mentioned, on January 16, 2016, implementation day of the Iran Nuclear

Deal, the Obama-Biden administration dropped charges and international arrest warrants against
14 Iranian fugitives for providing support for Iran’s WMD and ballistic missile programs
because “it was assessed that extradition requests were unlikely to be successful.”64  However, it
was reported that the Obama-Biden administration attempted to hide this information from the
American people by not initially acknowledging publicly that these charges and arrest warrants
were dropped.65  Reportedly, the identities of the 14 Iranian fugitives were learned once Iran’s

63 On file with Comm. staff.
64 Louis Nelson, U.S. wire payments to Iran undercut Obama, POLITICO, (Sep. 18, 2016),
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/us-iran-payments-wire-transfer-228324#ixzz4KhjmXpzD; Josh Meyer,
Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017), https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-
iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-release-236966; Josh Meyer, The Iran deal: The full picture, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017),
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-list-details-237381.
65 Josh Meyer, The Iran deal: The full picture, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017),
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-list-details-237381; see Josh Meyer,

Page 18 of 24

state news service, FARS, disclosed the information.66  These reports also stated Justice
Department lawyers, prosecutors, and FBI agents who worked these cases for several years and
had intimate knowledge about these suspects were not consulted or asked for input before the
Justice Department dismissed the charges for the 14 Iranians.67  According to disclosures to my
office, “what the media portrayed as amnesty for 14 Iranians was only the visible tip of a
massive effort to obstruct U.S. laws prohibiting the sale (and ultimate use) of U.S. technology
and components to Iran.”68  These claims appear supported by unclassified Justice Department
and FBI email records concerning the prisoner swap.

In an unclassified email from December 15, 2015, then-Acting Section Chief for the FBI

CD Stacey Moy wrote to David Laufman and Jay Bratt at NSD about contacting DAAG Bruce
Swartz about the status of FBI operations and potential conflicts with the ongoing prisoner
exchange negotiations between Iran and State.69  As referenced above, Swartz was part of a
small group of Justice and State Department officials who met and discussed cases relating to
individuals providing support for Iran’s WMD and ballistic missile programs.70  The email
shows the FBI wanted to provide information about their operations and how the U.S.’s
negotiation position with Iran could be strengthened if senior policy makers authorized
indictments.71  However, as previously mentioned, the records show State continued to obstruct
FBI and Justice Department attorneys from pursuing these cases and did not want to meet with
FBI personnel to discuss these relevant matters.72

Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017), https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-
iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-release-236966 (Reporting, “in a series of unpublicized court filings, the Justice
Department dropped charges and international arrest warrants against 14 other men, all of them fugitives.  The
administration didn’t disclose their names or what they were accused of doing, noting only in an unattributed, 152-
word statement about the swap that the U.S. ‘also removed any Interpol red notices and dismissed any charges
against 14 Iranians for whom it was assessed that extradition requests were unlikely to be successful.’”).
66 Id.
67 Josh Meyer, Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway, POLITICO, (Apr. 24, 2017),
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/24/obama-iran-nuclear-deal-prisoner-release-236966.
68 On file with Comm. staff.
69 Exhibit H.
70 Exhibit C.
71 Exhibit H.
72 Exhibit C.

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Further, an unclassified FBI email sent on January 19, 2016, just three days after the

prisoner swap, shows the FBI field agent assigned to a case against an indicted Iranian was not
told that his case was one of the 14 where the Justice Department dropped the charges, and “the
AUSA  in the case said she was under strict orders from DOJ not to tell
the case agents.”73  However, officials within FBI CD made it a priority to notify each agent
assigned to the 14 cases where the Justice Department dropped the charges against or released
Iranians as part of the prisoner exchange deal and to get information about how these decisions
were made.74

73 Exhibit M.
74 Id.

Page 20 of 24

This new information raises questions about how the Obama-Biden administration believed
extradition was “likely to be unsuccessful” if case agents weren’t consulted.  It also raises
questions whether the true reason extradition was unlikely was due to State, with then-Secretary
Kerry at the helm, obstructing law enforcement activity.

In short, according to whistleblower disclosures, during the Obama-Biden years:

Page 21 of 24

Between 2013 and 2017, FBI Headquarters executives allowed the
FBI to become a political tool. The State Department and the DOJ
leadership  actively  obstructed  FBI  investigations  and  operations
targeting  Iranian  procurement  of  material  supporting  their  WMD,
ballistic  missile,  and  conventional  weapons  programs.  There  was
shock and disbelief among FBI agents and analysts when we were
told  not  to  arrest  individuals  and  then  watched  those  individuals
continue  to  support  the  Iranian  weapons  programs.  The  failure  to
arrest  individuals  not  only  enabled  them  to  continue  their  illegal
activities  against  the  US,  but  we  also  missed  the  opportunity  to
obtain  valuable  intelligence  the  arrest  would  have  provided  –
intelligence  that  could  have  better  informed  the  ongoing  JCPOA
negotiations.75

When whistleblowers came forward in 2015, they were ignored and
silenced.    Rather  than  uphold  the  law  and  speak  out  against  the
improper  influence,  high-ranking  FBI  and  DOJ  officials  chose  to
cover it up.  During this time, FBI officials systematically reassigned
and  depleted  the  FBI  agents  and  analysts  working  the  Iran  threat
(highest level national threat priority) and reassigned some to work
the  Crossfire  investigations.    When  FBI  whistleblowers  made
formal  complaints  to  Director  Comey,  the  FBI’s  Inspection
Division,  and  DOJ  OIG  based  on  clear  and  compelling  evidence,
they were universally dismissed without any investigation.76

Trump Administration Reverses Course from Obama-Biden Administration and Then-
Secretary Kerry Obstruction

Unclassified email records show that Justice Department and FBI leadership allowed

then-Secretary Kerry to interfere with and obstruct the Justice Department and FBI from
pursuing arrests and indictments of individuals supporting Iran’s WMD and ballistic missile
programs.  However, the records show that the Trump administration altered course.  According
to whistleblowers, “The election of President Trump in 2016 did result in an immediate move
back toward normal enforcement of the law against the Iran regime and its supporters.”77
Indeed, the change in approach is supported by a November 29, 2016, email from Shell to an FBI
official within then-FBI Director James Comey’s office.78

75 On file with Comm. staff.
76 On file with Comm. staff.
77 On file with Comm. staff.
78 Exhibit N.

Page 22 of 24

Page 23 of 24

This change in course is further evidenced by the individuals the Trump administration

brought to justice for providing support for Iran’s WMD and ballistic program in violation of
U.S. sanctions and export restrictions against Iran—individuals whom the Obama-Biden
administration and then-Secretary Kerry’s State Department allowed to continue to operate at the
risk of U.S. national security.  Specifically, the unclassified records coupled with public reports
reveal the Trump administration brought the following individuals to justice whom the Obama-
Biden administration and then-Secretary Kerry let walk.

Green Wave Telecommunications-Alireza Jalali and Negar Ghodskani: Unclassified

FBI email records show that in July 2015, the Justice Department sought to bring grand jury
proceedings against Jalali and Ghodskani for violating U.S. sanctions and export restrictions
against Iran as part of its investigation into Green Wave Telecommunications, which the FBI and
Homeland Security Investigations had been investigating since 2011.79  According to the
records, in the case against Green Wave, the Justice Department couldn’t “schedule Grand Jury
 until State Department approves.”80  Public Justice Department reports provide
that “ince its incorporation in 2009, Green Wave operated as a front company for Fanavar Moj
Khavar (Fana Moj), an Iran-based company that specializes in both broadcast communications
and microwave communications.”81  Reportedly Green Wave unlawfully acquired sensitive
export-controlled technology from the U.S., shipped it to Malaysia, and then shipped the
technology to Iran to avoid U.S. export controls.82  In 2017, the Trump administration designated
Fana Moj as a Specially Designated National for its support of the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard.83  On November 29, 2017, Jalali pleaded guilty for his participation in the fraud
conspiracy and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.84  On August 9, 2019, Ghodskani pleaded
guilty for her participation in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 27 months in prison.85

On May 21, 2024, I wrote to the State Department, FBI, and Justice Department
requesting the production of records for certain officials referenced in these records.86  I sent

Conclusion

79 Exhibit J; Department of Justice, Summary of Major U.S. Export Enforcement, Economic Espionage, And
Sanctions-Related Criminal Cases (January 2016 to the present: updated November 2019), National Security
Division, (Nov. 2019), https://www.justice.gov/nsd/page/file/1044446/dl?inline.
80 Exhibit A.
81 Department of Justice, Summary of Major U.S. Export Enforcement, Economic Espionage, And Sanctions-Related
Criminal Cases (January 2016 to the present: updated November 2019), National Security Division at 24, (Nov.
2019), https://www.justice.gov/nsd/page/file/1044446/dl?inline.
82 Id.
83 Id.
84 Id.
85 Id.
86 Letter from Senator Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Budget Committee, and Senator Ron Johnson,
Ranking Member, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Antony Blinken, Secretary, Department of State,
(May 21, 2024); Letter from Senator Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Budget Committee, and Senator
Ron Johnson, Ranking Member, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Merrick Garland, Attorney General,
Department of Justice, (May 21, 2024); Letter from Senator Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Budget
Committee, and Senator Ron Johnson, Ranking Member, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to
Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, (May 21, 2024),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-johnson-uncover-obama-biden-state-departments-
politically-motivated-obstruction-of-fbi-law-enforcement-efforts.

Page 24 of 24

these letters to gain greater insight into the danger posed by then-Secretary Kerry’s politically
motivated decisions to interfere with law enforcement efforts against individuals who supported
Iran’s WMD and ballistic missile programs in contradiction of U.S. sanctions and export
restrictions and to seek accountability for this obstruction.87  However, the Biden-Harris State
Department, FBI, and Justice Department failed to respond.

The unclassified records reveal the Obama-Biden administration’s brazen political

calculus forced the FBI to stand down on efforts to arrest and indict individuals who provided
support for Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.  More precisely, then-Secretary of State
Kerry’s obstructive conduct against law enforcement efforts did not reinforce or strengthen our
national security.  Kerry’s obstructive conduct contradicted his testimony before Congress that
the Iran Nuclear Deal “does not provide Iran any relief from U.S. sanctions under any of those
authorities or other authorities, mind you.”88  Further, the email records expose that the FBI and
Justice Department, under the leadership of then-Director Comey and then-Attorney General
Loretta Lynch, failed to stop Kerry’s political interference and obstruction.  Whistleblower
disclosures summed up the consequences of State’s obstruction saying that, “Tragically, the
constant unlawful interference hindered and obstructed hundreds of investigations into thousands
of illegal acts, all of which benefited the Iranian regime, its military, and proxies.  In short, this
unceasing political interference guaranteed Iran’s illegal activities would continue.”89

87 Negar Mojtahedi, Whistleblowers Allege John Kerry Blocked FBI From Arresting Iranian Agents, IRAN
INTERNATIONAL, (May 23, 2024), https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405231235.
88 Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iran Nuclear Agreement Review, (Jul. 23, 2015),
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/iran-nuclear-agreement-review.
89 On file with Comm. staff.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Exhibit F

Exhibit G

Exhibit H

Exhibit I

Exhibit J

Exhibit K

Exhibit L

Exhibit M

Exhibit N

