Ernst Calls for Investigation into John Kerry Amid Allegations He Divulged Classified Information to Iran

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran and outspoken opponent of the failed Iran Nuclear Deal, joined her colleagues in urging President Biden to investigate recent allegations that John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, revealed classified information to the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and—if true—calling for his removal from the administration. In addition to investigating the claims, Ernst and her colleagues are calling on President Biden to suspend Kerry’s access to sensitive and classified information until the investigation is faithfully resolved.

 

In their letter, Ernst and her colleagues write, “Secretary Kerry has a long history of employing transactional diplomacy against the best interests of the United States or our allies – often trading long-term national security for a flawed short-term political agenda – which has ultimately endangered our allies and empowered our adversaries. Most egregious, is the recently purported claim in a leaked recording by Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif, that Secretary Kerry relayed covert Israeli actions against Iranian interests in Syria.”

 

They go on to say, “Revealing sensitive information, whether deliberately or not, about one of our most important and enduring allies in the region, the state of Israel, to an avowed enemy – the largest state sponsor of terrorism, responsible for the killing and wounding and maiming of thousands of American service men and women – is reason alone to remove Secretary Kerry from your administration.”

 

To read the full letter, click here.

 

Background :

Following the reports that Kerry revealed classified information to Iran—the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism—Ernst condemned the former Obama-Biden Secretary of State for his actions and demanded that he be held accountable.

 

With the Biden Administration pushing hard to get the United States back into the failed Iran Nuclear Deal, Ernst recently joined an effort to curb President Biden’s ability to reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 

Ernst joined 29 of her Senate colleagues in calling for the U.S. to oppose lifting sanctions against the country. Ernst called on the Biden Administration to work with our allies and partners to impose a new arms embargo on Iran.

 

Earlier this year, Ernst helped introduce a resolution expressing opposition to the JCPOA and urging President Biden to work with Congress and refuse to re-join the deal without significant reform. She also joined Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) on a bill that would enable Congress to approve—or block—any effort by the administration to suspend or terminate U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime.