Sessions orders review of abandoned Hezbollah-linked drug prosecutions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered the Justice Department to dig into allegations in a POLITICO report that a series of potential drug prosecutions related to the pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah were abandoned as the Obama administration pressed to strike a deal with Iran over its nuclear program.

Sessions indicated that he was troubled by allegations that Project Cassandra — the Drug Enforcement Administration’s drive to target Hezbollah’s foray into drug trafficking — ran into high-level roadblocks that stymied many of the cases agents wanted to bring as well as efforts to get suspects extradited from overseas to the U.S.

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“Operations designed to investigate and prosecute terrorist organizations that are also fueling that drug crisis must be paramount in this administration,” Sessions said in a statement released to reporters Friday evening. “While I am hopeful that there were no barriers constructed by the last administration to allowing DEA agents to fully bring all appropriate cases under Project Cassandra, this is a significant issue for the protection of Americans. We will review these matters and give full support to investigations of violent drug trafficking organizations.”

Justice Department officials declined to comment on who will conduct the review or any other details about the inquiry.

The deeply reported POLITICO story has unleashed furious pushback from Obama administration officials who have denied that the high-priority push to reach a nuclear pact with Tehran derailed any law enforcement operations.

However, Republicans and pro-Israel activists have jumped on the story as evidence that the Obama administration was so focused on the nuclear deal that it was willing to ignore other troublesome activity by the Iranian regime and its allies.

U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who has pressed for more information on the issue, called Sessions’ action an “appropriate first step.”

“I’m encouraged that the Justice Department recognizes that this is important and I hope that they will swiftly provide answers,” he said in a statement. “Terrorists don’t get a pass to exploit drug addiction here at home and use American dollars to fund their global violence.”

Sessions has made the war on drugs a top priority at the Justice Department since he took over in February. His predecessors in the Obama administration argued that drug sentences were excessive and that too much focus was being put on prosecution, rather than drug treatment and rehabilitation.

Decisions to review criminal investigations conducted and closed under prior administrations are unusual, but not unheard of. This marks the second instance in the past two months of Sessions ordering a review of Obama administration practices.

Last month, Sessions agreed to review how the Justice Department handled allegations that proponents of a deal to purchase a mining transport company known as Uranium One made large donations to the Clinton Foundation in a bid to influence former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or her aides to approve the purchase. Sessions agreed to the review after many Republican lawmakers demanded appointment of a special counsel to investigate the issue, which was previously the subject of some investigative work by the FBI.

Under the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a review of Bush-era investigations into alleged abuse and deaths of war-on-terror prisoners held by the Central Intelligence Agency. The inquiry led to the investigations of two deaths being formally re-opened and a grand jury convened to hear evidence, but no charges were ever brought.