Republicans call for investigation into allegations against John Kerry

WASHINGTON (SBG) - Republican senators sent an urgent letter to President Joe Biden Thursday asking him to investigate Special Presidential envoy for Climate John Kerry. 19 senators signed the letter, asserting that Kerry has been accused of working with American adversaries against the national security interest:

We write to convey our grave concerns over U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s position as a member of your administration's National Security Council and his record – both past and present – of potentially working with America’s adversaries against our national security interests and those of our allies. We ask you to investigate recent allegations that Secretary Kerry revealed sensitive information to the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and if true, call for his removal from your national security team.

The New York Times published a report Sunday that leaked audio of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif revealed Kerry informed him of Israeli attacks on Iranian interests.

“Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed him that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said,” The New York Times reported.

Kerry received immediate backlash over the report. Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State under former President Donald Trump asked Kerry to explain why he would disclose information to Iran.

Pompeo said if the allegations are true, Kerry disclosed information to Iran to undermine the Trump administration, which had withdrawn from the former President Barack Obama-era Iran Nuclear Deal.

“Kerry covertly worked to undermine the Trump administration’s efforts by meeting with top Iranian leaders during our tenure, encouraging them to ‘wait’ until the next election, when presumably the same Obama administration officials they struck a deal with in 2016 would be back in power, and now we learn perhaps worse, providing valuable intelligence to the Iranians concerning our ally, Israel,” Pompeo wrote for Fox News.

Kerry denied wrongdoing and called accusations against him “unequivocally false.”

Although Kerry no longer heads the State Department, Republicans are calling foul and asking for an investigation into the accusations.

“If this tape is verified, it would signal catastrophic and disqualifying recklessness by Envoy Kerry to Foreign Minister Zarif that endangered the safety of Americans and our allies,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told The Daily Wire.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he would like to ask Kerry about the alleged tapes in a closed hearing. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the allegations “disgusting.”

The signatories of the Senate letter to Biden include Cruz, Cotton, Dan Sullivan, R-AK, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rick Scott, R-Fla. The letter says the allegations provide reason enough to remove Kerry from the administration, but even if proven false, the report shows Iranian officials to be untrustworthy negotiators:

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, wounding and maiming of thousands of American service men and women – is reason alone to remove Secretary Kerry from your administration. If proven false, this narrative is yet further proof that Iranian officials are dishonest brokers and we ask that your administration be mindful of this as you continue discussions on the future of U.S. posture towards Iran.

The senators ask Biden to suspend Kerry’s access to sensitive information pending the results of an investigation. But the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says he will stand by Kerry, making an official probe unlikely. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., echoed Durbin’s claim.

“These are unsubstantiated allegations and Secretary Kerry says they're not true and I have no reason to think that he's not being straight with us,” Kaine said.