Secretary of State John Kerry secretly gave $1.3 billion to Egypt, which is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.

To give this “gift”, Kerry had to waive restrictions put in place by Congress, which forbid giving US military aid unless the country meets certain basic democracy standards. The secretary of state is supposed to certify that the recipient country’s government is “upporting the transition to civilian government, including holding free and fair elections, implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion, and due process of law.”

By law, the State Department may only give Egypt aid each year if the secretary of state certifies that Egypt is honoring its peace treaty with Israel. Also, the country must be “supporting the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.”

This is clearly not happening in Egypt. The country is currently run by the Muslim Brotherhood, a large and dangerous terrorist organization.

The substantial gift goes against what Kerry has said of Egypt in the recent past. On May 9th, he said, “We are not satisfied with the extent of Egypt’s progress and are pressing for a more inclusive democratic process and strengthening of key democratic institutions.”

Why, then, are you giving them $1.3 billion of our precious dollars, Kerry?

He continued, “A strong U.S. security partnership with Egypt, underpinned by FMF (Foreign Military Financing), maintains a channel to Egyptian military leadership, who are key opinion makers in the country. A decision to waive restrictions on FMF to Egypt is necessary to uphold these interests as we encourage Egypt to continue its transition to democracy.”

The State Department’s notification of Kerry’s secretive move was never released to the public… until now.

Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also waived the restriction, but was much more transparent about it. The decision was announced publicly and defended to the media.

The executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, Stephen McInerney, said it is “very alarming that no public statement was made by the secretary or the Department of State more broadly in conjunction with the waiving of these conditions.”

What makes the aid decision worse was Egypt’s sentencing American NGO workers, who were only there to help build and promote democracy in the country.

Written by Kristin Tate.

Follow Kristin on Twitter @KristinBTate.