ATTORNEY GENERAL/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions is creating a dedicated team of prosecutors and investigators to focus on drug trafficking by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in response to a recent POLITICO article that highlighted some such cases were softpedaled during the Obama administration in order avoid derailing a nuclear deal with Tehran
A Justice Department statement said the newly-formed Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team will ‘begin by assessing the evidence in existing investigations,’ including the so-called Project Cassandra probes highlighted in the POLITICO report.
‘The Justice Department will leave no stone unturned in order to eliminate threats to our citizens from terrorist organizations and to stem the tide of the devastating drug crisis,’ Sessions said. ‘In an effort to protect Americans from both threats, the Justice Department will assemble leading investigators and prosecutors to ensure that all Project Cassandra investigations as well as other related investigations, whether past or present, are given the needed resources and attention to come to their proper resolution. The team will initiate prosecutions that will restrict the flow of money to foreign terrorist organizations as well as disrupt violent international drug trafficking operations.’
The team will be overseen by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, but will coordinate with prosecutors from Justice’s National Security Division and United States Attorneys’ offices, as well as personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, the statement said.”
-Josh Gerstein, “Sessions creates team to focus on Hezbollah financing and drugs,” Politico, Jan. 11, 2018 10:45am