In the wake of horrific attacks across Israel, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., spared with President Biden’s former press secretary about the administration unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian assets.
The terror group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday resulting in over 1,000 Israelis being murdered. At least 11 Americans have also been killed in the attacks. Amid reports that Iran helped plan the attack, attention has turned to President Biden's recent dealings with the country.
The Biden administration announced on September 11 it would release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds as part of a prisoner swap. The deal allows the transfer of the money held in a South Korean bank to accounts in Qatar. The administration claims the money can only be used for humanitarian purposes and that the U.S. will have oversight as to how and when the funds are used, but Iranian leaders deny this.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki spoke to Rep. Lawler Sunday about a social media post in which he wrote, "These terrorists have been emboldened by the Biden Administration's failed policies of appeasement towards Iran with a $6 billion cash giveaway."
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"Now this is a talking point we are hearing a lot right now, but I think we all believe in facts, so I just want to give a few of those," Psaki argued. "The $6 billion dollars is part of a deal to bring 5 prisoners home. It is not U.S. taxpayer money. It is still being held in a secure bank account in Doha, and each transaction will be monitored by the U.S. Treasury Department and not a cent of it has been spent. Would dispute any of those facts I just laid out?’
Lawler did not dispute her claims, but argued, "We should not be trading sanctioned funds for hostages. Obviously, in this instance, we traded those folks that we had been holding in exchange for hostages and, in addition to that, the Biden administration released $6 billion dollars in sanctioned Iranian funds."
He added that the "problem" is that "money is fungible," arguing, "Iran is able to shift other resources that it otherwise would not have been able to do to help fund terrorism."
Psaki interjected as he spoke, "I’m gonna stop you right there congressman, because what you just stated is inaccurate, the funding does not go to Iranian hands. It goes to approved third-party vendors who provide humanitarian support."
Lawler replied, "With all due respect, Jen, with all due respect, you are not listening to what I just said."
He then argued that aid, even to allegedly unrelated organizations in Iran, ultimately frees the Iranian government to pursue other priorities.
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"The bottom line is, when you are releasing sanctioned funds, that goes to Iran, ultimately, okay, whether you want to say it is to purchase food, and clothing, and other humanitarian relief, the bottom line is, money is fungible. And you are freeing up other resources that would otherwise have needed to spend on such efforts," he said, adding, "they are the greatest state sponsor of terrorism, period."
When asked by the former Biden spokeswoman if he disapproved of a similar deal made by the Trump administration, Lawler responded, "The bottom line at all times in our government is we should not be sanctioning funds and then releasing those sanctioned funds. So any administration that does that, it’s wrong."
"When you’re sitting in the Oval Office, and you’re making a decision about how to bring hostages home, there’s a question if it’s between unfreezing this money that could be used for humanitarian aid, doesn’t go to the government, or no deal at all, would you choose no deal?" Psaki asked the congressman. "That’s what it sounds like to me."
Lawler disregarded her premise, arguing that the U.S. ultimately doesn’t have control over how the funds will be used.
"But you have the Iranian regime saying that they are not going to use it the way that the United States prescribes, okay? And so you can sit here and say, ‘Oh, well it’s going through Qatar.’ Well, Qatar also has a relationship with Hamas," Lawler said. "So there are real challenges here right now. And what we saw yesterday was a terrorist attack by Hamas, and they are sponsored by, and backed by Iran. And so the challenge to me and the question to me as we move forward is how do we handle the challenges we are facing in the Middle East? Appeasement is not a solution and freeing up $6 billion in sanctioned funds is wrong."
Later, Psaki asked if he acknowledged that "not a single cent of this has been spent nor has it been obviously used by the Iranian government."
"I didn’t say that it was," Lawler argued, saying that what he had claimed was that it was a "shortsighted policy" by the administration, also arguing that they "were pushing for funds to go back to the Palestinian Authority."
"I’m sorry, the Taylor Force Act was put in place specifically because the Palestinian Authority was paying people to go kill Israelis, and we put that law in place under the Trump administration to prevent American aid and our allies from giving aid to the Palestinian Authority when they are using funds to kill Israelis, and that, to me, is unassailable," he said. "It is something that this administration needs to take accountability for, that they have not enforced the Taylor Force Act in the way that it was intended to be."
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