Fact check: Did U.S. send money to Iran, funding groups that attacked Israel?
A new ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee claims U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., voted to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran that was then used to financially back "radical" groups including Hamas, a militant group in Gaza designated as a terror group by the United States.
Posted — UpdatedYour browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., voted to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran that was then used to financially back "radical" groups including Hamas, a militant group in Gaza designated as a terror group by the United States.
The ad, released on Nov. 8 comes after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
"Baldwin voted to send hundreds of millions to Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, bankrolling radicals like Hezbollah and Hamas," a voiceover narrates in the ad.
There are two agreements to consider when examining whether this claim about Baldwin is true.
Let’s examine both.
U.S. agreement to release $6 billion in Iranian funds and free American prisoners
But the money never made it to Iran.
Even if Iran had received the money, the deal required Iran to use it only for humanitarian items, such as medicine and food.
Critics of the deal argue the money is fungible. Put simply, that means Iran could spend its existing money on allowed goods but turn around and use those goods for an illegitimate purpose.
"This still frees up their budget constraint to spend other money on other things," Kydd wrote in an email. "But by this logic anyone who buys something at Walmart is supporting the Chinese nuclear arsenal."
For now, the $6 billion released in August has not made it to Iran.
2015 Iran nuclear agreement
"Tammy Baldwin may not like being held accountable, but she can’t hide from her record of voting to send millions of dollars to the world’s leading sponsor of terror groups like Hamas," National Republican Senatorial Committee Spokesman Tate Mitchell said.
But did the freed money go to Hamas and Hezbollah? That part is less clear.
The ad also uses visual and audio editing to suggest the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks are tied to Iran, which is currently a disputed claim.
However, we could not find concrete evidence directly tying funds received from the 2015 nuclear deal to money Iran gave to Hezbollah or Hamas. That means it’s difficult to connect Baldwin’s vote directly to "bankrolling radicals" — though, as we mentioned above, fungibility may apply.
Furthermore, since this money did not come from the U.S. but instead consisted of unlocked Iranian funds, it’s misleading to say Baldwin voted to "send" the money. She voted to defend a deal that would give Iran access to its own funds in exchange for more oversight over Iran’s nuclear operations.
PolitiFact ruling
A National Republican Senatorial Committee ad claimed Baldwin "voted to send hundreds of millions to Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, bankrolling radicals like Hezbollah and Hamas."
Although Baldwin voted for the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 and an agreement to return U.S. prisoners held by Iran in August 2023, both agreements unfroze Iranian funds held in foreign banks due to sanctions.
And, in the 2023 deal, the funds were stalled via an Oct. 12 agreement with Qatar, meaning Iran has not yet accessed the $6 billion unfrozen in August.
Some of the money freed in 2015 may have allowed Iran to provide funding for terrorist groups, but there’s not enough concrete evidence to say the money freed in the agreement directly went to terror groups, and the money was actually freed as part of a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Still, there’s no foolproof guarantee. Therefore, Baldwin did vote to approve an agreement that freed hundreds of millions of Iranian funds for the nation, a leading sponsor of terrorism. But the idea that the money was directly sent to Hamas or Hezbollah lacks concrete proof.
We rate this claim Mostly False.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.