POLITICO
For the past eight years, the DEA has been working on a secret investigation, dubbed Project Cassandra, into a large drug syndicate that they traced back to Hezbollah, an Islamist terrorist organization based in Lebanon. The investigation followed cocaine shipments into the United States through the Middle East and Central and South America, as well as money that was laundered through the shipment of American cars to Africa. In all, this drug ring was collecting $1 billion annually from their illegal activities. However, when members of this investigation sought approval for further investigation and prosecution, members of Obama's Justice Department regularly delayed or rejected those requests. Ali Fayad, a top operative for Hezbollah, was detained for two years, but the Obama administration declined to prosecute him, and he was released in 2016, only to re-engage in terrorist activities. A major factor in this investigation is Iran, who was helping to sponsor Hezbollah. At that same time, President Obama had his sights set on reaching a resolution with Iran regarding its developing nuclear program. The biggest bombshell (ha) of the whole investigation dropped when Katherine Bauer, a Treasury official during the Obama administration revealed that "these [Hezbollah-related] investigations were tamped down for fear of rocking the boat with Iran and jeopardizing the nuclear deal.” Essentially, President Obama had been covertly allowing this world-wide multi-billion dollar drug ring, headed by Hezbollah, to function in order to reach his nuclear deal with Iran, Hezbollah's main sponsor.
1. Do you think Obama was justified in neglecting the prosecution of a terrorist organization in order to reach a resolution with Iran?
2. Why do you think this scandal is less well-known than the feud between Donald Trump and LaVar Ball?
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