(CNSNews.com) – President Obama told reporters three weeks ago that the U.S. had flown $400 million in cash to Iran last January because it could not send a check or wire the funds to the regime. The administration will not say how a much larger sum – $1.3 billion in interest – was paid around the same time.
The State Department confirmed Wednesday that the payment of around $1.3 billiondisbursed on January 19 from the Treasury Department's "judgment fund" was the money paid to Iran as the interest portion of a negotiated legal claim settlement, but declined to discuss the "mechanics" of the payment.
STATE HOUSE — The Obama administration on Wednesday challenged a federal court ruling that would strip the Mashpee Wampanoag of its tribal land in southeastern Massachusetts, according to the tribe, reigniting hope for the future of the tribe's planned casino in Taunton.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell cheered the move by the U.S. Justice Department to file a motion to reconsider after U.S. District Court Judge William Young ruled in late July that only tribes federally recognized before 1934 can be eligible for reservation lands. The awarding of land in-trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag was remanded back to the U.S. Department of Interior.
