✕ The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Stand up for the facts! Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Kimberley Strassel stated on May 28, 2017 in \"Meet the Press\" on NBC: In 2008, \"candidate Obama, he\'s not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Foreign Policy * PunditFact * Kimberley Strassel ![\\"Former](\\" Former President Barack Obama, accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, meets with veterans and Gold Star Mothers to discuss the Iran nuclear deal in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Sept. 10, 2015. (File/AP) ![\\"Lauren](\\" By Lauren Carroll June 2, 2017 # Did Obama seek back-channel talks with Iran during his 2008 campaign? Amid media reports that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner sought secret \"back-channel\" communications with Russia before Trump’s inauguration, some conservative commentators say outraged liberals have a short memory. They say Barack Obama did pretty much the same thing during the 2008 presidential campaign, secretly sending former Ambassador to Ukraine William Miller to Iran. Like Kushner, they say, Obama went around the existing administration to forge his own diplomatic path with a foreign adversary. \"Let me set the scene for you. It\'s 2008, we are having an election, and candidate Obama, he\'s not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms,\" Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel said on NBC’s Meet the Press on May 28. Candidate Obama faced criticism for saying he would talk to Iranian leaders as president. And after he took office, his administration pursued back-channel communications — meaning secret dialogue outside normal diplomatic processes — with Iran as part of achieving the nuclear deal. Journalists reported on those processes extensively. We were intrigued by the claim that Obama sought secret communication channels with Iran before he even won the 2008 election. When we started to dig into it, we were surprised to find that the evidence supporting that narrative is slim and ultimately insufficient. As far as we can tell, this allegation stems solely from the commentary of Michael Ledeen, a conservative Iran and Iraq expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a critic of Obama’s foreign policy. Ledeen was also a national security consultant to President Ronald Reagan’s administration. He recently co-authored a book with Trump’s ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies. Strassel hasn’t replied to our requests for comment, but she defended her comment on Twitter by citing Ledeen’s work. By Ledeen’s account, Miller told him that Obama sent him to Tehran in 2008. Ledeen has made this claim a number of times since at least 2013, in blog posts, on conservative talk radio, on Twitter in prepared remarks, and in a phone interview with PolitiFact June 1. \"During his first presidential campaign in 2008, Mr. Obama used a secret back channel to Tehran to assure the mullahs that he was a friend of the Islamic Republic, and that they would be very happy with his policies,\" Ledeen wrote in 2014 for conservative website PJ Media. \"The secret channel was Ambassador William G. Miller, who served in Iran during the shah\'s rule, as chief of staff for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as ambassador to Ukraine. Ambassador Miller has confirmed to me his conversations with Iranian leaders during the 2008 campaign.\" We called up Miller. He said Ledeen’s claims are \"totally untrue.\" Miller told us that he supported Obama’s 2008 candidacy and knew some of the campaign’s foreign policy staff from his decades-long public service career, but he had no role in the campaign or the subsequent administration. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jon Stewart stated on October 30, 2013 in in comments on Comedy Central\'s \"The Daily Show\" Congress \"is bewildered at the scope and reach of our spying apparatus\" but in 2008 and 2012 \"explicitly rejected an amendment calling for more disclosure.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Jon Greenberg • November 5, 2013 Miller does have extensive experience with Iran, starting out as a diplomat there in the 1950s and 1960s. President Jimmy Carter chose Miller to be a lead negotiator during the 1979 hostage crisis, while Miller was serving as staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. And as a private citizen, he played a role in the release of American hikers who were imprisoned in Iran from 2009-11. But \"the assertion that Obama sent me as an envoy is totally false,\" he said, adding that he’s met Ledeen a few times but doesn’t really know him. Miller said he travels frequently to Iran but didn’t in 2008. When we told Ledeen that Miller was telling a different story, Ledeen stood by his account. \"(Miller has) changed his mind,\" Ledeen said. \"He’s decided he didn’t go to Tehran.\" So either Ledeen or Miller isn’t telling the truth. We’re sensitive to the idea that someone who was involved in secret communications might not be forthcoming with us about those communications. But it’s also telling that there have been no independent news reports to corroborate Ledeen’s claims, given the extensive reporting on the Obama administration’s relations with Iran and negotiations over the nuclear deal. Marie Harf, who headed the State Department’s Iran nuclear negotiations communications strategy during Obama’s second term, said she hadn’t heard of these allegations until we called her. \"Never in my time at the State Department or working on Iran negotiations did any back channel prior to when we were in office come up,\" she said. Wall Street Journal foreign affairs reporter Jay Solomon, author of The Iran Wars, said he \"could never prove\" that Obama sought a back channel to Iran as a presidential candidate, but he can’t definitively say it didn’t happen. Like Solomon, National Iranian American Council President Trita Parsi never came across any evidence for the alleged back channel while researching either of his two books about the Obama administration’s relationship with Iran, including the upcoming Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Parsi questioned Ledeen’s credibility and said, \"At this point, I\'m completely convinced this is all B.S.\" Our ruling Strassel said that in 2008, Obama’s presidential campaign secretly sent former Ambassador William Miller to Iran to talk with Iranian leaders. This is a case of he-said-she-said. A single conservative scholar says Miller told him about his secret ‘08 campaign mission to Iran. Independent journalists who have covered U.S.-Iran relations extensively haven’t been able to confirm the account. There is no corroborating evidence, and Miller says it’s not true; he says he never worked on behalf of the Obama campaign, and he didn’t travel to Iran in 2008. At PolitiFact, we believe the burden is on the speaker to back up their claim with evidence. The evidence here is insufficient, so we rate this claim False. Share the Facts 2017-06-02 15:44:03 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 2 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" false.jpg\\") PolitiFact Rating: False In 2008, \"candidate Obama, he\'s not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms.\" Kimberley Strassel Wall Street Journal columnist ![](\\" on Meet the Press Sunday, May 28, 2017 2017-05-28 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources NBC, Meet the Press, May 28, 2017 Huffington Post Canada, \"My Life as a Secret Back Channel in Iran,\" Dec. 4, 2013 PJ Media, \"Obama\'s Latest Big Lie: \'We Have No Strategy,\'\" Aug. 29, 2014 PJ Media, \"Chamberlain, Washington-Style,\" May 16, 2016 Frontpage Magazine, \"Michael Ledeen: Obama Carrying Out Iranian Foreign Policy,\" Nov. 25, 2015 Mark Levin Show, Oct. 1, 2014 Wall Street Journal, \"Secret Dealings With Iran Led to Nuclear Talks,\" June 28, 2015 New York Times, \"How Obama’s Undercover Statecraft Secured Three Major Accords,\" Dec. 18, 2014 Washington Post, \"The Omani ‘back channel’ to Iran and the secrecy surrounding the nuclear deal,\" June 7, 2016 Associated Press, \"How a series of secret meetings between U.S. and Iran led to historic agreement,\" Nov. 25, 2013 PolitiFact, \"He has said it again and again,\" May 21, 2008 Phone interview, former State Department spokesperson Marie Harf, May 30, 2017 Phone interview, former Ambassador William Miller, May 31, 2017 Phone interview, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies scholar Michael Ledeen, June 1, 2017 Email interview, Wall Street Journal reporter Jay Solomon, May 31, 2017 Email interview, National Iranian American Council President Trita Parsi, May 31, 2017 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Lauren Carroll ![](\\" ![](\\" Casey Cagle stated on June 22, 2017 in a meeting with small business owners: Says of Georgia, \"for four years in a row, we are the No. 1 state to do business in.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 19, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 6, 2017 in a press conference in Poland: Says Barack Obama found out about Russia \"in August. Now, the election was in November. That\'s a lot of time. He did nothing about it.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 10, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Marc Short stated on July 2, 2017 in an episode of \"Fox News Sunday\": 7 million people the Congressional Budget Office says won\'t have health insurance coverage under the Senate health care bill \"don\'t exist.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • July 5, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeff Sessions stated on June 13, 2017 in a congressional hearing: \"It\'s a longstanding policy of the Department of Justice not to comment on conversations that the attorney general has had with the president of the United States.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • June 14, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kimberley Strassel stated on May 28, 2017 in \"Meet the Press\" on NBC: In 2008, \"candidate Obama, he\'s not even president-elect, sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election, they will have friendlier terms.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Lauren Carroll • June 2, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Uspoln Website stated on May 23, 2017 in an online article: \"Rubio: ‘Rape victims should be in custody if there is suspicion that they’re planning abortion.’ \" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • June 1, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Newt Gingrich stated on May 21, 2017 in an episode of \"Fox and Friends\": Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich \"apparently was assassinated at 4 in the morning, having given WikiLeaks something like 53,000 emails and 17,000 attachments. ... It turns out, it wasn’t the Russians.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 23, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rush Limbaugh stated on May 17, 2017 in an episode of the \"Rush Limbaugh Show\": \"What Trump is alleged to have done is actually no different than what Barack Obama did in April last year when he made it known that he didn’t want Hillary prosecuted.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 18, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Richard Blumenthal stated on May 9, 2017 in a press conference: \"What does Trumpcare do? Yank tax credits away from veterans unlike any other American.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 15, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bloggers stated on May 4, 2017 in blog headlines: Under the House Republican health plan, sexual assault is a pre-existing condition. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 5, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ivanka Trump stated on May 2, 2017 in her book \"Women Who Work\": \"40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • May 3, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 30, 2017 in an interview on CBS: \"General Flynn got his clearance from the Obama administration.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Lauren Carroll • May 2, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 28, 2017 in the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting: \"For the first time in the modern political era, we have confirmed a new justice in the first 100 days.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 28, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Sean Spicer stated on April 25, 2017 in the daily White House press briefing: Trump has \"worked with Congress to pass more legislation in his first 100 days than any president since Truman.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 27, 2017 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on April 26, 2017 in a tweet: The Ninth Circuit has an overturned record \"close to 80%.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Lauren Carroll • April 26, 2017 ### Did Obama seek back-channel talks with Iran during his 2008 campaign? * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Travis Kelce responding to Elon Musk X post that followed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 10, 2024 in a Facebook post: Patron, Don Julio and Pink Whitney tequila recalled because they contained fecal matter. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 11, 2024 in a TV ad: Mike Rogers supported “laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a Facebook post: ABC News fired presidential debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Yes on 4 stated on September 10, 2024 in a TV ad: Florida’s six-week abortion law has “no real exceptions. Not for her health. Not even for rape.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: Imagen muestra carnet del Partido Comunista de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 13, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. Sign me up #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" * * *
In 2008 candidate Obama He is not even presidentelect sends William Miller over to Iran to establish a back channel and let the Iranians know that should he win the election they will have friendlier terms