Biden doesn’t want to end his policy of appeasing Iran. Worse, he wants to extend that policy by reviving the Iran nuclear deal. These twin goals can’t be pursued without a political cost to the administration if team Biden concedes that Iran knew in advance about an attack by its proxy that resulted in the killing of American civilians.

Another reason for lying is the Biden administration’s role in enriching a regime that’s the main source of funding for Hamas. It’s not just the $6 billion in revenue that Biden unfroze shortly before the attack took place. It’s the far greater sums that have accrued to the mullahs as a result of not enforcing sanctions.

Biden should pay a big price for enriching Iran — and therefore the terrorist groups his administration admits are funded by Iran — regardless of whether Iran knew beforehand about attacks that would cost dozens of Americans their lives. But clearly the price will be higher if the public believes Iran knew the attack was going to occur and didn’t veto it.

[It’s usually a safe bet that Biden’s lying, period. It’s even safer in this instance. The hostage payment to Iran made clear that the hostage market was getting a lot more lucrative, and although that didn’t prompt this specific attack, it certainly helped increased the perceived incentives behind it. The White House has been lying about the utility of those funds to Iran’s IRGC all along, too, ignoring the fungibility of cash in those amounts. — Ed]