Posted on 08/05/2016 4:16:01 PM PDT by John Semmens
President Obama disputed claims that a planeload of $400 million in cash sent to Iran was a payment for the release of four Americans held hostage by the regime. He dismissed the simultaneous arrival of the plane carrying the cash with the departure of the plane carrying the hostages as "coincidental."
Brian Stelter of CNN cited this coincidence as "proof GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's claim to have seen a video of the exchange is delusional. I have it on good authority that the video of the so-called ransom payment doesn't exist." As it turns out, the "good authority" cited by Stelter is Democratic VP candidate Sen. Tim Kaine.
Stelter speculated on whether this "latest Trump gaffe will be the one that finally forces him out of the race. I mean, President Obama has denied it was a ransom. Secretary Kerry has denied it was a ransom. All of the major news outlets are denying it was a ransom. The accumulation of testimony from those in a position to know has got to reach critical mass at some point."
That the payment might have been a ransom is not without supporting evidence. As reported by the BBC's Hadi Nili, the Iranian government asserts that the $400 million in cash "was a partial payment for the release of these American criminals." Then there is the statement of Saeed Abedini, one of the four hostages, that "our captors told us we would be held at the airport until the ransom was received."
Press Secretary Josh Earnest characterized the incident as "an issue of semantics. We don't see it as a case of paying ransom. If the Iranian government wishes to cast it in that light there's nothing we can do about that. If it soothes their egos to imagine we have ransomed these hostages, so be it. They key thing to take away from this whole sequence of events is that Donald Trump is clearly in the wrong."
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/201570-2016-08-05-semi-news-semi-satire-august-7-2016-edition.htm
ping
The Obama press conference yesterday was unbelievable to watch. He looked and sounded like a high school punk who had gotten his way with impunity and knew no one was going to push back on anything he said.
Leak of the ransom payment probably Allah just f—king with Obama.
Well crafted my FRiend.
You waited until the last sentence to put in the satire.
Semi-satire?
Actually, we get our news right here.
Another fine/scary column John.
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I could have sworn that Earnest said just that in the last presser.
Having a hard time to find the semi part of this news/satire.
It seems that everything nowadays comes down to a question of intent
Yeah... it's like trying to find some semi-truth in MSM articles.
Probably did. He'll say anything.
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