Wash. Post Reports On Susan Rice's Investments With Ties To Iran, But Not McCain's

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A Washington Post article connected U.N. ambassador Susan Rice's investments in companies with business ties to Iran but didn't mention that Sen. John McCain, one of Rice's chief critics, has holdings with similar ties.

The right wing has conducted a witch hunt against Rice over her September 16 appearances on Sunday morning talk shows, in which she discussed the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The campaign against Rice ramped up after reports that she may be nominated for secretary of state. As Slate's David Weigel noted, McCain has been among her chief opponents. Weigel also noted that McCain's investments have ties to Iran.

The Post article reported that Rice and her husband own “modest stakes in companies that have until recently done business with Iran.” From the article:

One of the biggest of the holdings, between $50,000 and $100,000, according to Rice's disclosure statement for 2011, is Royal Dutch Shell. The international oil giant stopped buying crude oil from Iran early this year as sanctions were tightened to block oil exports by Iran and to stop financial transactions with its central bank.

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Rice and her husband also own between $15,000 and $50,000 of stock in ENI, the Italian international oil company. ENI has said that it is no longer doing business with Iran, but it has a waiver from sanctions to enable it to collect oil as payment for about $1 billion Iran owes the company from earlier business deals. The company had been purchasing crude oil and developing natural gas fields.

The article did not mention the McCain family's similar ties. For instance, in 2011, McCain declared that he held tens of thousands of dollars in JPMorgan funds via his wife, Cindy McCain. According to a 2010 report by an organization called “United Against Nuclear Iran,” JP Morgan Chase appears on the Iran Business Registry (IBR), “a running database of reputable media and academic reports of international business in or with Iran."

Also via his spouse, McCain held between $1,000 and $15,000 in the JP Morgan International Value fund. According to JPMorgan, 3.6 percent of that JPMorgan fund is currently invested in Royal Dutch Shell, which also has ties to Iran, according to the IBR. The Post article mentioned Rice's investment in Royal Dutch Shell, but not McCain's.

The Post article reported that some of the companies Rice is invested in have ceased their relationship with Iran, and also reported that ethics lawyers say it does not appear as though Rice's investments violate the Ethics in Government Act.