John Kerry Is Being Shielded by a Staggering Double Standard

I n leaked audio obtained by the U.K.-based Iran International, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is heard telling an ally that John Kerry informed him about “at least” 200 covert Israeli actions against Iranian interests in Syria. Zarif claimed he listened to Kerry in “astonishment.”

Barely anyone in political media even bothered covering the story. As of this writing, ABC, CBS, and NBC have not mentioned it. The Times buried a single line about the alleged Kerry–Zarif conversation deep in its piece. The Washington Post didn’t refer once to Zarif’s claim in its own article on the leaks. The paper’s first citing of the exchange came via reporter John Hudson’s uncritical regurgitation of a State Department talking point, which claims that the strikes had already been disclosed to the public by the time Kerry mentioned them.

That timeline doesn’t exactly work. We know Kerry likely met with Zarif and other Iranian officials in mid-April 2018 in an effort to undermine official U.S. policy regarding the Iran deal. It wasn’t until September 2018 — and then only because of an apparent leak — that the Israelis disclosed the 200 strikes.

Yet, as the media and the Biden administration were making excuses for Kerry, the former senator and secretary of state denied ever saying anything about Israel’s covert ops to Zarif. (Jim Geraghty has a smart rundown on why Kerry’s denial doesn’t make any sense.)

Of course, one assumes the Iranians were aware that Israel was likely behind attacks in Syria. But the question stands: Why would Kerry, most likely as a private citizen, be discussing an ally’s covert actions with a representative of a terrorist regime that had murdered over 600 Americans in recent years?

You might remember the uproar following a 2015 open letter by Senate Republicans to the Iranian mullahs, explaining how the United States ratifies international treaties and presciently warning that any deal probably wouldn’t last long. Numerous Democrats argued that the letter was a violation of the Logan Act, a rarely enforced law that criminalizes negotiations by American citizens with foreign governments in dispute with the United States. Feigned anger erupted throughout left-wing punditry.

Here is a sampling of the news coverage:

CNN: “Iran letter: Did 47 Republican senators break the law?”

New York Times: “G.O.P. Senators’ Letter to Iran About Nuclear Deal Angers White House”

Associated Press: “GOP senators send letter to Iran in attempt to undermine nuclear deal; Biden calls it ‘false’ and ‘dangerous’”

ABC News: “Why Some Think 47 GOP Senators Broke the Law With Iran Letter”

New York Daily News: “Senate GOP’s Iran letter sparks American outrage, #47Traitors Twitter trends”

Then-vice president Joe Biden condemned the letter as “beneath the dignity of an institution I revere” and one that ignored “two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the ability of any future American President, whether Democrat or Republican, to negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States.”

If a letter describing the Treaty Clause jeopardized the separation of powers, what does a former secretary of state’s secretly meeting with a representative of the world’s leading exporter of terror do to undercut the norms of governance?

And how many Americans were aware of Kerry’s actions? Probably not many. One of Iran’s most passionate American advocates, Ben Rhodes, suddenly incredulous about Iranian assertions, claimed that conservatives had attempted “to launder a lie through sufficient right-wing media outrage to get mainstream attention.” As far as I know, neither Zarif, who made the comment, nor the New York Times, which tepidly (and perhaps inadvertently) broke the story, is a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

A handful of other outlets did cover the alleged Kerry leak, through the lens of the political fight that has followed. “Kerry faces calls to step down over leaked Iran tapes,” says The Hill. “GOP tears into Kerry amid Iran controversy” is the headline from Politico. Whether the coverage will step beyond the “Republicans pounce” framing remains to be seen.

This is done by many of the same journalists responsible for years of hysterics fueled by anonymously sourced rumors — including Hudson, who has yet to explain how he mysteriously confirmed a non-existent Russia-bounty story. Try and conjure up an image of what coverage would look like today if we found out that Mike Pompeo had secretly met with the foreign minister of Russia to plot how to undermine Biden’s foreign-policy goals.

Unless someone verifies the Zarif–Kerry exchange, we can’t know with certitude what happened. Still, it’s highly conceivable that someone who had been sycophantically appeasing Iran would trade on Israel’s security to undermine the Trump administration’s efforts. Let’s recall, as well, that the Obama administration leaked information about Israeli attacks on Hezbollah and other terror proxies, to dissuade the Jewish State from bombing Iranian targets.

At least that policy was conducted by the United States government. Kerry’s actions were unprecedented — though you wouldn’t know it from the coverage.