Sessions Orders DOJ Review of Obama Admin. Over Hezbollah's Drug Trafficking in the US
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered a review of a law enforcement initiative amid allegation that the Obama administration halted a federal investigation into the illegal operations of the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah to secure the controversial 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
Sessions on Friday directed a review of prior Drug Enforcement Administration investigations "to evaluate allegations that certain matters were not properly prosecuted and to ensure all matters are appropriately handled," Fox News reported.
"While I am hopeful that there were no barriers constructed by the last administration to allowing DEA agents to fully bring all appropriate cases under (the law enforcement initiative) Project Cassandra, this is a significant issue for the protection of Americans," Sessions told Fox News in a statement. "We will review these matters and give full support to investigations of violent drug trafficking organizations."
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Politico last week reported on the Obama scheme. "An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah's billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House's desire for a nuclear deal with Iran," a subtitle for the article "The Secret Backstory of How Obama Let Hezbollah Off the Hook," stated.
DOJ officials said the review could lead to new prosecutions of people affiliated with Hezbollah. It could also lead to an Inspector General investigation of personnel matters relating to the project.
"The Department of Justice is absolutely committed to investigating and prosecuting international drug trafficking organizations and with the assistance of our DEA and FBI agents we will leave no stone unturned as we work to making America safer," Sessions said.
On Thursday, Congress instructed DOJ to turn over all documents and communications that may be related to the alleged efforts by the Obama administration to handicap the investigation.
Washington Free Beacon quoted Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida, as saying: "I've long believed that the Obama administration could not have done any more to bend over backwards to appease the Iranian regime, yet news that the Obama administration killed the investigation into a billion dollar drug ring that lined the terrorist group Hezbollah's pockets in order to save its coveted Iran deal may very well take the cake. … Hezbollah is a brutal terrorist group with American blood on its hands and it would be unconscionable for American policy to deliberately empower such a nefarious group."
"Project Cassandra" was launched after DEA obtained evidence that Hezbollah had become an "international crime syndicate" that is collecting up to $1 billion annually from drugs, weapons trafficking and other criminal activities.
"When Project Cassandra leaders sought approval for some significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests and financial sanctions, officials at the Justice and Treasury Departments delayed, hindered or rejected their requests," Politico reported.
Four former officials with knowledge of the case who spoke with Politico accused the Justice Department of refusing requests by Project Cassandra and other U.S. authorities to file criminal charges against Hezbollah's longtime envoy to Iran, Abdallah Safieddine, a man that investigators believe is a "linchpin of Hezbollah's criminal network."
