Boise City Wire

U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have written a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release the investigative file on Alex Saab. Saab, an alleged money launderer and close ally of Venezuelan narco-terrorist Nicolás Maduro, was recently pardoned by the Biden Administration in a prisoner swap with Venezuela. The senators are requesting transparency and want to know the extent of Saab's crimes.

In their letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the senators stated, "U.S. court filings disclose that Saab confessed to serious criminal conduct, and his many victims deserve to know the extent of his crimes. History should remember him as a predator of vulnerable people within Venezuela and throughout the world."

The senators are concerned about Saab's role as a key figure in the Maduro government and his connections to Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Saab is described by the State Department as "one of the two most important money [men] in the Maduro government" and "the middle man" between Maduro's regime and Iran. He has been involved in brokering deals between the two countries and is suspected of violating UN sanctions on Iran.

Saab is known for using a sophisticated network of shell companies to launder "hundreds of millions of dollars in corruption proceeds around the world." The United States government was so concerned about his escape from custody that they believed Iranian and Venezuelan operatives might orchestrate it.

Despite being granted clemency by President Biden, Saab has launched a propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting the United States and its judiciary and law enforcement professionals.

The senators believe that the American public has the right to know the evidence against Saab. They argue that since the U.S. government closed the case against him through the presidential pardon, there is no basis for withholding the investigative file and his confessions.

The senators have requested that the DOJ provide them with the investigative file against Saab and his confessions by February 7, 2024.

This request for transparency and accountability aligns with the senators' respective leadership on committees and subcommittees that oversee international narcotics control, foreign relations, the Western Hemisphere, and intelligence.

The senators' letter can be found in full here.