James Rosen, Fox News’ chief Washington correspondent, noticed something odd about a press briefing he attended at the White House on Dec. 2, 2013.
In the video recorded on that date, Rosen asked State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki about a false statement Victoria Nuland, her predecessor, had made to Rosen.
Nearly 10 months prior, Rosen asked Nuland on Feb. 6, 2013 if the Obama administration was in direct nuclear talks with Iran outside of the United Nations Security Council meetings which were taking place. Nuland said there were no direct country-to-country talks going on between the U.S. and Iran.
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Rosen subsequently questioned Psaki to ask if Nuland’s comments were true. According to Rosen, Psaki, in effect, admitted that Rosen had been lied to by Newnan for “privacy” reasons.
Now Rosen has discovered what appears to be a cover-up on the part of the State Department. The entire question and answer session Rosen had with Psaki has been whitewashed, edited out of the video, both on the State Department’s website and also on its own YouTube channel.
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On Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Rosen reported it isn’t the first time the Obama administration has been involved in deception. A high-level Obama administration official was engaged in what Baier called, “extensive manipulation of the public and the news media” to aid in the signing of last year’s controversial nuclear agreement with Iran.
Writer David Samuels profiled Ben Rhodes for The Washington Times. Rhodes is the White House deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and was charged with communicating information to the public regarding the deal with Iran. Samuel’s lengthy portrayal of Rhodes revealed how “downright deceptive” Rhodes was, according to Rosen.
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Rosen pointed to Rhodes’ assertion the U.S. confirmed publicly in 2012 that discreet talks were underway between the U.S. and Iran. Rhodes wrote on Medium, “the fact that there were discreet channels of communication established with Iran in 2012 is something that we confirmed publicly. However, we did not have any serious prospect of reaching a nuclear deal until after the election of Hasan Rouhani in 2013. Yes, we had discussions with the Iranians before that, but they did not get anywhere.”
But that statement does not coincide with the answer Rosen received when he asked Nuland directly. Rosen now knows the answer he got from Nuland was not true and that talks with the Iranian government began as early as 2012.
The only problem with his assertion is he has no way to prove it because the video has been whitewashed.
Rosen also pointed to a televised interview with Rhodes who told the press the U.S. would have 24/7 access to Iran’s nuclear facilities. “Under this deal, you will have anywhere, anytime, 24/7 access as it relates to the nuclear facilities that Iran has,” Rhodes stated.
But then Fox played a clip of Secretary of State John Kerry denying before Congress any such arrangement existed within the deal. “I never uttered the words anywhere, anytime, nor was it ever a part of the discussion that we had with the Iranians,” Kerry emphatically stated during his testimony before a congressional committee.
When the deal was done, the only “anywhere, anytime” access granted by Iran pertained only to declared nuclear facilities and not to suspected nuclear facilities such as the one located in Parchin, Iran.
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Michael Rubin, author of Dancing with the Devil, told Fox News, “Every administration since the Johnson administration has lied to the public in order to keep diplomacy alive.”
And now, according to Rhodes’ own assertions — and the deleted segment from a whitewashed video of a press briefing discovered by Rosen — it appears the Obama administration is no exception.
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