House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) blasted the State Department on Tuesday for declining to provide information about the suspension of Iran envoy Rob Malley for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
As Breitbart News has reported, Malley was suspended and temporarily lost his security clearance pending an investigation of his alleged mishandling of classified material. But the State Department did not tell Congress.
Then-Secretary of State John Kerry (R) walks back to his hotel with Robert Malley (L), after lunch following a negotiating session with Iran’s Foreign Minister over Iran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 20, 2015. (Brian Snyder/AFP via Getty Images)
McCaul sought answers from the State Department, but has been stonewalled thus far.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
State Department Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs Naz Durakoglu replied on Tuesday, hours before a deadline McCaul set in his letter, with no new information.
Citing the State Department’s “thorough and comprehensive process for investigating, assessing and confirming the initial and continued eligibility for access to classified information,” Durakoglu said he cannot provide documents or information about a “personnel-security clearance matter.”
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McCaul said the response is “absolutely unacceptable,” as Malley is “a person whose mission is to negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran – nothing could be more serious than this.”
Malley has been accused of being too accommodating to Iran and to Islamist terror groups in general. The Biden administration is thought to be seeking a “mini-deal” with Iran that would allow it to enrich uranium but stop short of the point of weaponization, in return for an agreement by the U.S. not to seek further sanctions.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.