MILWAUKEE -- As the race for U.S. Senate heats up in Wisconsin, so do attacks against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Politifact Wisconsin checked out a claim surrounding the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Kevin Nicholson, one of the Republicans running to unseat Baldwin, launched his latest attack on the U.S. senator.
Nicholson says Baldwin was among the first senators to support the Iran deal, which he said put billions of dollars of cash on cargo planes that were sent to Iran.
The Iran Deal, signed back in 2015 limited Iran's ability to build anymore nuclear weapons.
Politifact Wisconsin notes that the deal "unlocked" billions of dollars in assets. Those assets belonged to Iran.
It was essentially a refund for military hardware Iran purchased from the U.S. that was never delivered.
What about the billions in cash on cargo planes Nicholson refers to? A much smaller amount—about a billion and a half dollars—was sent by the United States to Iran.
Nicholson's campaign reached out to us to respond to Politifact Wisconsin's report with a statement that said:
"Billions of dollars went to Iran as part of the atrocious Iran Nuclear Deal. Period. Reporters and politicians who are not serious about national defense can waste time debating which mode of transportation the billions took en route to arriving in a terror state's bank account, or we can focus on the fact that Tammy Baldwin supported a deal that funded a state sponsor of terror. I'll leave that to you."
Nicholson's statement contains an element of truth, but it leaves out important facts that would give a different impression
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in May.
Politifact Wisconsin rated Nicholson's statement mostly false.
