Robert Malley, Joe Biden’s Iran envoy who served as lead negotiator on Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, has had his security clearance revoked for allegedly mishandling classified documents, according to State Department leaks.
A memo obtained by Iran’s Tehran Times indicates Malley was stripped of his Top Secret security clearance and ordered to turn in his diplomatic passport and government credentials as his “continued national security eligibility [was] not clearly consistent with the interests of national security.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) has expressed displeasure that “the Iranian regime’s mouthpiece” was able to obtain this information on Malley’s suspension “while Congress [was] kept in the dark,” despite demanding information from the State Department.
Congress only learned Malley had been suspended “amidst an investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents” through media reports, with McCaul writing to Secretary Antony Blinken in June warning of “serious concerns both regarding Malley’s conduct and whether the State Department misled Congress and the American public.”
“The Department’s failure to inform Congress of this matter demonstrates at best a lack of candor, and at worst represents deliberate and potentially unlawful misinformation,” he said.
Former President Donald J. Trump currently faces federal prosecution at the hands of Special Counsel Jack Smith for the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The Tehran Times – an Iranian state media outlet – has published a “Sensitive But Unclassified” memo to Iran Envoy Rob Malley explaining why his clearance was suspended.
The letter looks authentic to me. Indicates Malley also lied about not knowing why his clearance was pulled. pic.twitter.com/cpzUnan4Ex
— Gabriel Noronha (@GLNoronha) August 27, 2023