GOP tries to link Dem candidates to Obama on Iran 'ransom'

Republican incumbents are racing to link their Democratic opponents to the Obama administration's $400 million cash payment to Iran, hoping to use it as an effective campaign issue.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Friday blasted Democratic opponent Katie McGinty for supporting Obama's Iran policies, saying Tehran considers the payment and the separate Iran nuclear deal to be connected.

“Despite all of this, Katie McGinty remains fully on board with the deal, fully in support of the president’s fully misguided policy,” he told reporters. “She owes it to Pennsylvanians to put Pennsylvanians’ safety over her allegiance to the liberal wing of her party.”
McGinty supports the Iran agreement, which lifts sanctions on the country as it curbs its nuclear program, but has not weighed in on the cash payment.

The $400 million payment, made in January, was the first part of a $1.7 billion settlement to resolve a dispute surrounding a decades-old arms deal. But opponents of the global nuclear deal have seized on the fact that it was made in cash and coincided with the release of four American hostages, arguing it was a ransom payment.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/290584-gop-seeks-edge-on-iran-ransom