Robert Malley, Joe Biden’s Iran envoy in charge of resurrecting the failure called the Iran Deal, has some big problems. It seems he stored classified documents on his personal email and phone, and was hacked by a foreign actor. Shades of Hillary Clinton!

To recap, last summer he was suddenly and very quietly placed on leave. 

Rob Malley, the US special envoy on Iran, has been placed on leave without pay, which occurred after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year amid an investigation into his handling of classified material, multiple sources told CNN.

A US official said that Malley’s clearance was suspended amid a State Department diplomatic security investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information. Another source familiar with the matter said he was placed on unpaid leave on Thursday afternoon.

“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,” Malley told CNN.

There’s a lot to this that hasn’t passed any smell tests since last June. Especially when we’ve found out that some, Ariane Tabatabai for example, who worked with Malley on the Iran Deal are equally suspect. Yet, they still have their security clearances and their jobs.

Malley managed to land a cushy, and I presume well-paying, gig at Princeton. 

Robert Malley, who in June was put on unpaid leave from his post as U.S. special envoy for Iran because his security clearance is under review, will teach a course on foreign policy at Princeton University this fall, Princeton said on Wednesday.

Malley stepped back from his State Department role shortly before Iran’s release of five U.S. citizens to house arrest as part of a deal under which they would eventually leave Iran and $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would be unfrozen.

Yes, don’t get me started on handing Iran billions so they could ramp up their nuke program.

We now finally find out that Robert Malley’s security clearance suspension is a really BIG DEAL. 

“Due to the Department’s evasiveness and lack of transparency, we have worked to glean information from other sources,” Risch and McCaul wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, obtained by the Washington Post. “Our own investigations have uncovered the following information and troubling allegations. We ask that you confirm the information we have learned.”

“Specifically, we understand that Mr. Malley’s security clearance was suspended because he allegedly transferred classified documents to his personal email account and downloaded these documents to his personal cell phone,” Risch and McCaul wrote.

“It is unclear to whom he intended to provide these documents, but it is believed that a hostile cyber actor was able to gain access to his email and/or phone and obtain the downloaded information,” they added.

Is it any wonder that the DOJ and State Department have been stone-walling on this? As I said above, shades of Hillary Clinton! 

Joe Biden tapped Malley to resurrect the Iran Deal, which again ended (thankfully) in abject failure. However, as the media has noted, his security clearance being revoked has been handled extremely quietly and everyone has been stonewalled.

This from last September at the WaPo:

But it was only two months ago that Congress and the public learned — from the media — that the State Department had suspended his security clearance because of an investigation into a possible mishandling of classified information. It’s since emerged that the FBI is also investigating this matter. (In some cases, mishandling classified information may constitute a federal crime.)

Since that original revelation, a steady trickle of leaks — many via Iranian media — has shown that the State Department has given both Congress and the public incomplete and often misleading information about the case.

At the time Rogin tried to claim that, while there is a coverup, there’s no clear evidence that Malley did anything wrong with classified documents. Except, if there isn’t anything wrong, why the massive amount of secrecy? And why did much of the information that anyone could find come from…Iranian media?

Now, eight months later, we are finding out that Robert Malley pulled a Hillary Clinton. Yes indeed, lessons have not been learned. Malley moved classified information to his personal email and phone. Evidence is pointing to the fact that he got hacked by a foreign actor, Iran most likely. That puts our entire national security at risk. Read the entire letter here.

So why have the DOJ, State Department, and FBI been stonewalling Congress on this? 

Trump allegedly mishandles classified documents and is prosecuted by Biden’s DOJ.

Biden’s top Iran negotiator Rob Malley mishandles classified docs and gets keep his job at the State Department. https://t.co/CGhbmZaQ96

— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) May 8, 2024

This is a very good question that needs to be answered ASAP. 

“When and how did the cyber actor compromise Mr. Malley’s account?” the letter asks. “Did the compromise of Mr. Malley’s device enable subsequent compromise of other senior officials at the State Department, National Security Council, or other agencies? How did the malign cyber actor utilize the information obtained from Mr. Malley?”

Furthermore, if the Iranian media has been leaking info over the last year, one can only presume that not only was Malley hacked and compromised, so were others. 

Consequences should apply in this, as they should’ve in Hillary’s case. The State Department’s continued stonewalling of Robert Malley’s security clearance is hugely suspect. 

Feature Photo Credit: Robert Malley At Atomic Energy Commission with IAEA Director General in 2021 via Flickr, cropped and modified