Rep. Adam Kinzinger: U.S. didn’t pay North Korea for Otto Warmbier
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}What matters most about North Korea giving the U.S. a $2 million bill for comatose Otto Warmbier's medical care is that it was not paid, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Friday.
His comments came after President Trump tweeted earlier Friday saying no money was paid to North Korea for Warmbier, “not two Million Dollars, not anything else.”
“We didn’t pay it and that's the big thing that matters,” Kinzinger told "America's Newsroom."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During the interview, Kinzinger said he doesn't think Trump paid the bill and "there’s every indication he didn’t."
TRUMP SAYS ‘NO MONEY’ PAID TO NORTH KOREA FOR OTTO WARMBIER
“It’s probably just the typical kind of North Korean bluster,” Kinzinger said, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “It’s, in essence, Otto’s fault in their minds so here’s him back but it was his fault for being an American basically so you have to pay the bills.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Whether or not we signed a bill is one thing. I’m pretty sure we didn’t pay it because you don’t pay for things like that.”
Kinzinger added: “Look they got Otto. They beat him. Obviously, they killed him. They murdered him and the U.S. isn’t going to pay a ransom for that.”
“As the president said this isn’t the prior administration, this is an administration that says we don’t pay for hostages."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kinzinger pointed out that North Korea certainly didn't give Warmbier $2 million worth of health care.
NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY
North Korea insisted a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay the bill before being allowed to fly Warmbier home to the U.S. in June 2017, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.
The White House issued a statement that said, “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”
American student Otto Warmbier, center, is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File) (The Associated Press)
Warmbier fell into a coma after being imprisoned for stealing a propaganda sign from a hotel in March 2016. North Koreans officials kept his condition behind bars a secret. When news of his condition was learned, it sparked intense efforts to bring him home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His arrival in the U.S. came six days before he died, and with North Korean officials denying that he had been tortured during his imprisonment. North Korea said Warmbier had suffered from botulism and slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.
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Last December, Fred and Cindy Warmbier obtained a $501 million judgment after suing North Korea over their son's death. The judgment has not been paid.