Despite Iranian attack killing American abroad, Biden pursues nuclear deal with ayatollah's regime

The Iranian regime’s recent drone attack on an American base in Syria, which resulted in the murder of a U.S. contractor, has not deterred the Biden administration from pursuing the controversial nuclear pact with Tehran that would dramatically enrich the coffers of the Islamic Republic.

The White House remains wedded to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal – that “would allow Tehran to access up to $275 billion in financial benefits during its first year in effect and $1 trillion by 2030.”

Veteran Iran experts have argued that the JCPOA is no longer tenable because it is riddled with serious defects about deterring Iran’s malign behavior, including failing to stop Tehran’s ongoing drone attacks against Americans. Iran’s regime was caught enriching uranium to 84% purity in February – just 6% short of weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon.

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Jason Brodsky, the policy director of the U.S.-based United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital, “The JCPOA framework is not a viable one for the United States. Those who say diplomacy is the most sustainable way of dealing with the Iran nuclear [deal] ignore the history of the last seven-plus years, where world powers have spent more time trying to salvage it than it was ever fully implemented. This is because of a lack of bipartisan support in the United States for the JCPOA paradigm as well as Tehran’s lethal non-nuclear behavior.”

While the U.S. State Department claims the JCPOA is not a priority, it reportedly continues to propose ways to inch toward an agreement. Axios recently reported that the White House is discussing a temporary deal that provides Tehran with some economic sanctions relief in exchange for a freeze of elements of its alleged atomic weapons program.

When asked about the reported interim deal proposal, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “We are in constant contact with our allies and partners, including the E3, but we’re not going to detail diplomatic conversations or respond to rumors, many of which are simply false.”

E3 is an abbreviation for France, Germany and Britain.

The spokesperson added, “The JCPOA has not been on our agenda since September, when Iran turned its back on a deal that was on the table, but we are still very much open to diplomacy.”

The spokesperson continued, “As the president has made clear, the United States is committed to never allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but President [Joe] Biden has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table.”

When asked about a report that diplomats from France, Germany and Britain conducted secret talks with Iran last month in Norway, the U.S. spokesperson reiterated its earlier response: “We are in constant contact with our allies and partners, including the E3, on Iran, but we’re not going to detail diplomatic conversations or respond to rumors, many of which are false. For instance, there have been no meetings of the P5+1 and Iran since August.”

The P5+1 is an abbreviation for the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

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The spokesperson added, “Of course, we remain greatly concerned by the expansion of Iran’s nuclear activities, including the operation of advanced centrifuges and accumulation of highly enriched uranium. Iran has no credible peaceful purpose to be undertaking these activities.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration “does not have a desire to solve the Iranian nuclear problem but to manage it.”

Despite the clerical regime’s mass human rights violations, furnishing lethal drones to Russia in its war against Ukraine, and enriching uranium to near military-grade usage, Biden’s “Iran policy continues to be defined by the JCPOA,” said Taleblu.

Taleblu said the Biden administration’s “maximum deference” to Iran’s rulers over the last 18 months “paved the way to where we are.” He added that the policy permitted Tehran to make “irreversible gains” with respect to its nuclear weapons program. The Iran expert also said the Biden administration “selectively enforces oil sanctions” against Tehran.

He urged that the U.S. government provide “maximum support” to the Iranian protesters opposed to the theocratic state because the U.S. “can’t form an Iran policy in isolation from what is happening on the ground in Iran.”

According to the State Department, the Trump administration is to blame for the current state of affairs with the Islamic Republic: “Let’s also not forget that it was the previous administration’s decision to unilaterally leave the JCPOA that contributed mightily to where we are today, with Iran no longer adhering to the constraints of the deal and rapidly advancing its nuclear program,” the State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Israeli Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior researcher at the Israeli Defense Security Forum and expert on Iran, told Fox News Digital that the perception in the region is “America is weak and not willing to support its allies.” He cited the example of Saudi Arabia’s rapprochement with Iran’s regime that bypassed the U.S. altogether – Communist China brokered the diplomatic deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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Kuperwasser said the “U.S. dreams of going back to the JCPOA, which means the Iranians think they can go further and test the waters in various issues.” He said the “Iranians have showed more self-confidence in their attacks on American bases in Syria and led to the death of one American.” He added that Hezbollah recently attacked Israel – the Iranian regime’s chief strategic partner is the U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The U.S. government has defined Iran’s regime as the world’s worst international state sponsor of terrorism.

Kuperwasser said the message being delivered to the Iranians right now is: “They can get away with more than murder.” He continued, “The key is to put pressure on Iran now to stop their nuclear project. The worst thing right now is to revive JCPOA because it gives them a lot of money. They will be able to produce nuclear weapons in the future with JCPOA.”

Kuperwasser bemoaned the American government’s passive posture. He said the U.S. did not take any steps against Iran’s regime at the last session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its enrichment of near weapons-grade uranium. IAEA spokesperson Fredrik Dahl declined to provide a comment to Fox News Digital whether progress has been made in stopping Iran’s enrichment.

Kuperwasser said the main problem is Iran’s nuclear program and its enrichment of uranium, that America needs to “look at the entirety of the problem.” He said that the way to avoid a military confrontation with Iran’s regime is to “show credible military options.”

Brodsky, the Iran expert for UANI, said, “Military options need to be on the table and Tehran needs to believe we are serious about their use if Washington hopes to effectively deter the Islamic Republic. This entails more aggressively targeting Iran’s regime after its attacks on U.S. forces – not just retaliating against its proxies but also Iran’s regime itself. The U.S. government should also be giving serious consideration of an updated AUMF [Authorization for Use of Military Force] focused on Iran, as that is the threat that is most significant today. Just having the AUMF against Iran on the books would be a deterrent in and of itself.”

Iran’s mission to the U.N. did not respond to a press query.

Biden torched over classified docs rebuttals: 'What's next, 'Corn Pop did it'?'

After another instance of classified materials being found at properties belonging to or linked to President Biden, critics questioned how much longer he or his defenders can imply inadvertence over the alleged mishandling of the documents.

Reacting on “Hannity” on Monday, Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said that excuse or defense is further eroded with every new incident of discovery. 

Jarrett also pointed to a federal statute that he suggested counters Biden supporters’ top defense that purported negligence or lack of full knowledge of the misplacement of the documents is a cogent defense of the president – one usually lodged to contrast with the aspects of former President Trump’s classified documents saga in Florida.

“I disagree that intent and knowing and willful is the only standard,” Jarrett said. “If you examine Section F of 18 U.S.C. 793, that also provides for gross negligence or carelessness.”

That particular passage in law reads that “whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document… or information relating to the national defense, through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.”

JOE BIDEN’S CORN POP GANGSTER STORY ‘GREATEST POLITICAL ANECDOTE EVER’: MARK STEYN

Jarrett said that statute, combined with the increasing instances of classified material discoveries “renders inadvertence implausible, and instead seems to be the definition of recklessness; gross negligence, under the statute.”

“So I think legally there would be a fairly strong case.”

Expounding on the president’s rebuttal that the president takes classified document handling “seriously” among other comments, Jarrett riffed the next excuse might be that “Corn Pop did it.”

“I mean, it’s getting to the absurd,” he said, referring to a widely-circulated story Biden told several years ago when the pool at Brown-Burton Winchester Park in Wilmington was being rededicated in his honor.

Biden regaled the crowd with memories of his time as a lifeguard at the pool, just off Governor Printz Boulevard on the north side of town.

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“Corn Pop was a bad dude, and he ran a bunch of bad boys,” Biden said in one recollection, adding one day he called out to Corn Pop to demand he get off of the diving board; jokingly comparing him to competitive swimmer Esther Williams.

Biden claimed Corn Pop promised to “meet [him] outside,” and when the then-future president left the pool, the situation deescalated after he apologized for comparing Corn Pop to Williams.

On “Hannity,” Jarrett added declassification is an “exclusive power” of the commander-in-chief, saying that both Biden and Hillary Clinton – who also was embroiled in a classified documents scandal – lack the same authority as Trump or other presidents in that regard.

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The documents pertaining to Biden hail from his vice presidency, not his presidency.

“Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted. The evidence was overwhelming,” he said, adding that if former CENTCOM Commander Gen. David Petraeus and Bill Clinton administration official Sandy Berger were prosecuted for mishandling classified information, the law should be applied evenly in all relevant cases.

Dems 'want answers' on Biden documents, Rep. Porter says: 'Classified documents belong in classified settings'

Democrats want answers from the White House regarding stashes of classified documents improperly held by President Biden since the Obama administration, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California said.

Porter, speaking with reporters after a town hall event Tuesday, was asked about her role in the House Oversight Committee and the ongoing investigation into Biden’s illicit storage of classified documents at his private residence, inside his garage, and in the office of his think tank.

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“So I definitely think that we want to get answers from the White House,” Porter said. 

Porter, however, wouldn’t say if she will sign on to a request from Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer for records related to the classified documents.

“I don’t know if that document request – I have not reviewed the line by line of the request that Chairman [James] Comer made – but I definitely think we want answers. Classified documents belong in classified settings, and I think you heard me say oversight is not a partisan thing. Good oversight means you’re willing to hold any rule breaker to account.”

Comer, a Kentucky Republican, sent a letter Sunday to White House chief of staff Ron Klain requesting more documents and communications related to the discoveries of multiple Obama-era classified documents in several locations at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. 

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Porter went on to say there has been “much broader abuse of classified information” by former President Donald Trump.

“I don’t have all the facts about President Biden’s classified information,” Porter continued. “We don’t have all the facts, sadly, because of obstruction yet about President Trump’s much broader abuse of classified information. But we should be asking for answers in a respectful way, and we should be expecting to get honest ones.”

BIDEN IGNORES REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FOR 2ND TIME AS STAFF ESCORTS MEDIA OUT

Biden again ignored reporters’ questions on Tuesday as they tried to get him to address the classified documents from his time as vice president that were recently found at his Delaware home and the Penn Biden Center.

Biden had a meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and after the two leaders delivered brief remarks, reporters began hurling questions at the president. They were all met with silence.

The same thing happened three times last week. First, Biden refused to answer questions about the documents on Monday, Jan. 9. 

Then the following day, Jan. 10, the president did not acknowledge questions after his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.

Biden campaigns for heavily favored Democrat on eve of 'most important' election

President Biden will spend Election Day eve campaigning for a Democrat running for governor in Maryland who is up by 30 points in the latest polls, instead of several other candidates in much tighter races across the country that could determine which party controls the House and Senate.

Biden over the weekend called the midterm “one of the most important elections. One of the most important elections in our lifetime.”

But on Monday, Biden will leave the candidates in tight races on their own and instead will campaign for Wes Moore, the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor who appears set to coast to a victory on Tuesday.

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Moore will hold a rally Monday night that will be attended by the president, first lady and several prominent Maryland Democrats. Biden’s appearance comes as the latest poll places Moore 31 percentage points ahead of his Republican opponent, Dan Cox. FiveThirtyEight, the polling data website, gives Moore a more than 99% chance of winning the race to replace moderate Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

The rally marks the last campaign event for Biden before Election Day. The president has traveled for campaign events in largely blue areas over the past week, including New York, Illinois and California. The exception to this trend was Pennsylvania, where he appeared in an event with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, who is in a tight race with Mehmet Oz.

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Moore, a bestselling author and progressive activist, won a tight Democratic primary earlier this year, then received prominent endorsements in the general election, most notably from former President Barack Obama. Cox, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won a tight Republican primary matchup over Kelly Schulz, who was endorsed by Hogan.

The Maryland governor race, which is expected to be a seamless victory for Democrats, has received significant national involvement. The Democratic Governors Association funded ads in support of Cox during the primary, part of an effort to boost Trump-endorsed candidates, who they believed would be more vulnerable in the general election.

Historian compares Biden to Lincoln, says 2022 elections are ‘easily’ the ‘most important’ since the Civil War

Presidential historian Jon Meacham compared President Biden to Abraham Lincoln Tuesday, arguing the upcoming midterm elections will be the most important choice that America has made since the lead up to the Civil War. 

Appearing on “CNN Tonight” to promote his new book about Lincoln, he was asked by CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota to “tell us why you think that this is the most important election since 1850.” 

Meacham responded that the upcoming elections are about a lot more than just particular policies.

“Well, I think it’s the most important election easily since that period because we are facing a stress test for the rule of law and democracies run not just on policies, not just about what a particular policy or tax rate is, it’s about an overall context of our mutual respect for each other as fellow citizens and a sanctity of law and custom that means that people who win elections legitimately get to serve in office,” Meacham said. 

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Meacham, who spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, went on to mock former President George W. Bush while criticizing the Republican Party. 

“When you deplete the trust in the system, which is what is unfolding today around the country, and I will confess, as George W. Bush might say, I misunderestimated the power of the ‘big lie’ here, but it’s burrowed in and democracies do not long endure if everything becomes about power at the expense of winning humbly and losing graciously,” Meacham said. 

Co-host Laura Coates brought up the Confederacy and slavery before the Civil War and how Meacham compared them to Republicans who question the 2020 presidential election, noting how he wrote that both Lincoln and Biden had to deal with their own versions of the big lie, with Lincoln’s being that “slavery was a justifiable institution.”

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She said there were moments where, if Lincoln had succumbed to pressure to placate the Confederacy, history would have turned out much differently and told Meacham, “You draw these analogies in a way, I think is not always so obvious but it’s fascinating to think of how and where we are today.”

Meacham said the main question we must answer “for the continuation of the constitutional experiment” is “do we put our own interests above everything else?”

“If we go entirely political, if it’s entirely – every moment is this battle where it is cataclysmic – then the system doesn’t endure,” he said, reiterating that Lincoln could have chosen a different path. But because he prioritized democracy over his political future, “Abraham Lincoln, flawed, fallen, and fallible, said no. And he said no, because he believed fundamentally that slavery had to die and the union had to endure.”

Republicans are gaining ground in the crucial midterm elections, with Republicans focusing on the economy and rising crime while Democrats have sought to make the campaign about abortion and a “threat to democracy.”

Blake Masters rips 'unforgivable' lack of action on border crisis by Biden, Sen. Mark Kelly

Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters said the greatest issues facing his state are inflation and the border crisis which he blames on Joe Biden and his opponent, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.

The Republican joined “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday to discuss the race and said Kelly portrays himself as a moderate but is voting “in lockstep with the Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden agenda.”

“Arizona is getting the brunt of it, the border crisis and this economic inflation crisis, people have had enough. And it’s why they want to make a change in November,” he told Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.

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Masters said Mark Kelly and Joe Biden “declared war on American energy” when they “surrendered our energy independence, and then they printed $6 trillion too quickly,” a move he said contributed to rising inflation.

Masters also blamed Kelly for the border crisis. 

“Joe Biden and Mark Kelly caused this crisis. They gave the whole southwest border over to the Mexican drug cartels. It’s a human trafficking disaster. The crime being committed, the fentanyl coming through. This is all on Mark Kelly.” 

Masters said he would support securing the border and slammed Kelly for his inaction as poisonous fentanyl comes across.

“I just find it so unforgivable that Joe Biden and Mark Kelly, haven’t even pretended to do anything about it.”

“Mark Kelly just two days ago announced some new fentanyl bill he’s trying to run in the Congress,” said Masters, ahead of Thursday’s debate with Kelly. 

“It’s performative. He didn’t do anything for the first 22 months. And now, what, three days before our debate? One month before Election Day. Now Mark Kelly pretends to get serious about fentanyl. It’s killing our kids here in Arizona. He’s not keeping people safe.”

Hemmer said Kelly has been invited onto the show to respond and lay out his case to voters.

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report