INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A spokesman for John Kerry said there was nothing improper about his conduct
minister after the Obama-appointee had left office."John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime which can only
serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people," Trump said on Twitter late Thursday."He told them to wait out the
Trump Administration!" he said, ending his Tweet with the word "BAD!"Kerry, who negotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which Trump scrapped
this year, said during a tour to promote his new book "Every Day is Extra" that he had met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
"three or four times" since he left office and Trump had entered the White House.Without commenting on the legality of such meetings, the
current US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, accused his predecessor of "actively undermining US policy.""What secretary Kerry has done is
unseemly and unprecedented," said Pompeo, who is seen as an anti-Iran hawk."This is a former secretary of state engaged with the world's
largest State sponsor of terror and according to him he was telling them to wait out this administration."A spokesman for Kerry said there
was nothing improper about his conduct."Secretary Kerry stays in touch with his former counterparts around the world just like every
previous Secretary of State," the spokesman said in a statement."And in a long phone conversation with Secretary Pompeo earlier this year he
went into great detail about what he had learned about the Iranian's view.""No secrets were kept from this administration," the statement
said, accusing Kerry's successor of "political theatrics."Straight TalkAsked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday if he had
offered Zarif advice on how to deal with Trump's decision to withdraw from the pact, he replied: "No, that's not my job."What I have done is
tried to elicit from him what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better."I've been very
blunt to Foreign Minister Zarif, and told him look, you guys need to recognize that the world does not appreciate what's happening with
missiles, what's happening with Hezbollah, what's happening with Yemen," he added, echoing the current administration's denunciation of
Tehran's "malign" influence.Conservative commentators immediately leapt on the act as evidence of "treason," with some calling for Kerry to
go to prison.Asked by a Republican lawmaker during a congressional hearing about the so-called shadow diplomacy, Manisha Singh, an assistant
secretary of state, said Thursday: "It's unfortunate if people from a past administration would try to compromise the progress we're trying
to make in this administration."State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert added: "I've seen him brag about the meetings that he has had
with the Iranian government and Iranian government officials
I've also seen reports that he is apparently providing, according to reports, advice to the Iranian government."The best advice that he
should be giving the Iranian government is stop supporting terror groups around the world."
