Yesterday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appeared before a Senate committee for her confirmation hearing. During that hearing Virginia Senator and failed vice presidential candidate had to show off his superior knowledge.

KAINE: …you were an opponent of the Iran deal. Would you support the U.S. unilaterally backing out of the Iran deal at this point?

HALEY: I think what would be more beneficial at this point is that we look at all the details of the Iran deal. We see if they are actually in compliance. If we find that there are violations, then we act on the violations, and I think that watching that very closely is important. What we did was, we gave the state sponsor of terrorism a pass, that even after ten years they will not be held to any sort of prohibitions on building nuclear weapons, and we gave them billions of dollars to do it. So I believe that if that has passed and if that is where it is, we need to hold them accountable and watch them as we go forward.

KAINE: I would encourage you to read the agreement, because what you just stated about the agreement is quite inaccurate. There are many, many restrictions in the agreement after ten years, specific restrictions in perpetuity. The first paragraph of the agreement says that Iran, pursuant to the agreement, will never seek to develop, acquire, or otherwise construct a nuclear weapon. So the notion that there’s no restrictions after ten years, I don’t know where you get that from. The notion that we gave them money — we didn’t give them anything. There was money that was Iran’s that had been frozen. We released access so they could get money that was theirs, in exchange for their agreement to restrict their nuclear weapons program, and guarantee in perpetuity, not only to not have nuclear weapons, but allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, that accurately reported to this body that Iraq didn’t have a nuclear weapons program. And we disbelieved them and started a war, and found out that they were right. So I would encourage you to read the agreement, because if you think those things, I can see why you were against it, and I can see why you might want to back out of it, but actually that’s a completely inaccurate reflection of the agreement. I would also encourage you to speak to intelligence and military officials in Israel, many whom now say that they think the agreement the working, with respect to the nuclear aspect of Iran’s activity. There’s other activity that’s very troubling that we obviously need to be very aggressive in countering. That’s all I have, thanks, Mr. Chairman.

Haley: Thank you Senator, and I would just say that while, yes, I will look into that, what we all need to remember is a nuclear Iran is very dangerous for the entire world, and it is important that we look at all the details of the agreement, which I will do, and make sure that they are actually following through on the promises that were made.
KAINE: I appreciate that.

This is the way the left is covering it:

Grab some popcorn and watch @timkaine school Nikki Haley on factual details about the Iran nuclear agreement: https://t.co/1URY0YNv1Y

— #TodaysWonderWomen OUT NOW! // Asha Dahya (@Ashadahya) January 19, 2017

If by throwing bullsh** about in a condescending manner while the person you’re talking to is stunned into silence by the magnitude of the lie they are hearing, then yes, Kaine definitely schooled Haley.

Considering we are in the era of Fake News and Fact Checkers, it is only fair that we fact check Tim Kaine’s response.

First, the agreement is not a treaty. It is only an agreement between Obama and whatever mullah is ruling Iran these days. It officially ends tomorrow at noon unless the incoming government decides to go along with it. So there is nothing in the treaty that runs “in perpetuity.” Kaine deliberate conflates the preamble of the agreement (non-binding), in which Iran foregoes any right to have nukes:

Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.

With the actual provisions of the document. At no place in the actual undertakings of the document does Iran say it won’t get nukes. This is not quibbling, The Iranians themselves say that the agreement does not prevent them from getting nukes, that they are only held back by a fatwa issued by… wait for it… the mullahs, themselves.

“The Americans say they stopped Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Khamenei said. “They know it’s not true. We had a fatwa, declaring nuclear weapons to be religiously forbidden under Islamic law. It had nothing to do with the nuclear talks.”

While Kaine is right about the source of some of the money the US has given Iran, he is wrong in stating that the money given Iran was only to settle some $400 million in claims that have lingered on since the seizure of the US embassy in 1979. This is a debt, by the way, that we had no moral, legal, or ethical obligation to repay as those assets belonged to the last legitimate government of Iran, in addition, Iran is a state sponsor of terror.

Contrary to what the Kaine says, the IAEA does not have what would be called inspections by the IAEA. The Iranians have put military research facilities off limits and have the ability to delay any IAEA inspection by up to 24 days. The Iraninans are also involved in the inspection of their own facilities. Plus we have no way of know that the Iranians have actually declared all their facilities as IAEA inspectors can’t inspect suspicious sites.

In fact, if you analyze the document you see that Iran gives up nothing at all and if it follows the letter of the agreement it a) acquires sufficient material for a nuke legally and b) the US is obligated to protect Iran’s nuclear program from direct and cyber attacks. (For a dispassionate analysis of how little this agreement does read Can Iran Gain Nuclear Weapons Capability While Complying with the Deal?)

While Kaine’s “intelligence and military officials in Israel” are anonymous. The government of Israel is unambiguous about just how bad the deal is. For other discussions of the nature of this abject surrender to the Iranians see:

Five Reasons Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Is Still A Really Bad Idea
Iran Nuclear Deal Was Based On A Lie
Why 200 Prominent Generals And Admirals Oppose the Iran Deal
The 4 Fatal Flaws Of the Iran Deal

Kevin McCarthy: 21 Reasons the Iran Deal Is A Bad Deal
Michael Hayden: Former CIA Director Diagnoses the Iran Deal
Chuck Schumer: Iran Won’t Change Its Ways Under This Deal

If you skim through the text you’ll see that most of the agreement covers what Iran gets rather than what it accedes to.

In the hearing Kaine claims that Iran both agreed to give up nuclear weapons and to allow IAEA inspections in perpetuity. These claims are false. The agreement sunsets and is structured to leave Iran with the facilities and materials to construct a nuke within a few weeks. The Iranian government, itself, disputes the idea the this agreement keeps them from having a nuke. The IAEA inspectors are handcuffed and Iran did not agree to perpetual IAEA oversight. The Israeli government and  large and bipartisan group of American politicians, national security experts, and military officers believe the deal to be a very bad thing. Iran continues to be a state sponsor of terror.

The only true statement Kaine uttered in his mansplaining of the JCPOA to Nikki Haley was that she made a mistake about the 10 year time horizon.

We rate this statement a DAMNED LIE and award Kaine the Quad-Heady