US Bigwigs Get Paid Well to Push for Iranian Group

Prominent US leaders from Rudy Giuliani to Howard Dean have been visiting the White House to fight for an Iranian opposition group currently on the State Department's terror list—and those visits are drawing scrutiny at the Washington Post. The Treasury Department already has looked into the possibility that the advocacy, which has involved payments of tens of thousands of dollars, breaks laws surrounding terrorist organizations; now some suggest the visitors are acting as lobbyists and must register as such.

Hillary Clinton must decide by October whether to lift the Mujaheddin-e Khalq from the State Department's terror list, according to a court order. In the meantime, a host of officials from both parties, including a former Obama adviser and a Romney aide, are pushing on behalf of the group. The organization, which is also seeking improved conditions for exiles at an Iraq camp, says it hasn't asked for the advocacy. But the supporters have been paid $10,000 to $40,000 in speaking fees by the group's allies; former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has received $150,000 in travel expenses, he says. The MEK was accused of killing six Americans in the 1970s, but renounced terrorism in 2001. Click through for the full piece. (More Mujahedin e Khalq stories.)