Assad Corruption Report: State Department Misses Deadline

The State Department on Tuesday disregarded a statutorily mandated deadline to release a report detailing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s net worth and his family’s kleptocratic business empire. The decision not to release the report prompted fears that the Biden administration is going to extreme lengths to avoid disrupting the ongoing Iran nuclear talks, as Assad is one of Iran’s most important proxies in the region.

Last year’s annual defense-authorization bill stipulated that the secretary of state must submit to Congress a report detailing the Syrian regime’s wealth, and that this report be posted on a publicly accessible federal website. Representative Claudia Tenney, the Republican Study Committee member who introduced the measure, said at the time that “it is important to monitor the rampant corruption to ensure that funds are not directed to terrorist groups and malign activities.”

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Jimmy Quinn

Jimmy Quinn is the former national security correspondent for National Review.

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The State Department on Tuesday disregarded a statutorily mandated deadline to release a report detailing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s net worth and his family’s kleptocratic business empire. The decision not to release the report prompted fears that the Biden administration is going to extreme lengths to avoid disrupting the ongoing Iran nuclear talks, as Assad is one of Iran’s most important proxies in the region.

Last year’s annual defense-authorization bill stipulated that the secretary of state must submit to Congress a report detailing the Syrian regime’s wealth, and that this report be posted on a publicly accessible federal website. Representative Claudia Tenney, the Republican Study Committee member who introduced the measure, said at the time that “it is important to monitor the rampant corruption to ensure that funds are not directed to terrorist groups and malign activities.”