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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul on Friday demanded to know more about the allegations that prompted a State Department investigation into Iran envoy Rob Malley over his handling of classified documents.
Malley was placed on unpaid leave Thursday, and his security clearance was suspended amid the probe.
“These reports raise serious concerns both regarding Malley’s conduct and whether the State Department misled Congress and the American public,” McCaul (R-Texas) wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Malley, who President Biden appointed as special envoy for Iran on Jan. 28, 2021, confirmed that he was placed on leave Thursday and said he expected the issue to be resolved.
“I have been informed that my security clearance is under review. I have not been provided any further information, but I expect the investigation to be resolved favorably and soon.
“In the meantime, I am on leave,” he said in a statement.
McCaul called Malley’s security clearance suspension “troubling” and blasted the State Department for stonewalling the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s past “efforts to conduct oversight.”
“While the suspension of Special Envoy Malley’s clearance is independently troubling, our concern is compounded by the State Department’s failure to respond to the Committee’s efforts to conduct oversight of its negotiations with and policy toward Iran. Since April 11, 2023, the Committee has repeatedly requested Special Envoy Malley’s testimony, which the Department has not fulfilled, despite Special Envoy Malley’s numerous press engagements dating back to May 30, 2023,” McCaul said.
The Texas Republican claims “at no point did the Department indicate that Special Envoy Malley’s security clearance was suspended or under review, or that he was being investigated for potential misconduct” when the department rebuffed efforts to get him to testify.
“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,” McCaul tells Blinken.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman is demanding that the State Department provide his panel “a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding Special Envoy Malley’s clearance suspension and investigation” by no later than July 11.
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