In Case of Biden’s Man in Iran, an Omertà-Like Code of Silence

The Biden administration is imposing an omertà-like code of silence over the FBI investigation into whether President Biden’s top Iran negotiator, Robert Malley, allegedly mishandled classified information, even as members of Congress demand answers. In a letter sent to the state department’s deputy inspector general, Diana Shaw, a group of 18 Republican senators, led by Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, ask questions such as when the FBI investigation into Mr. Malley was launched, whether the envoy has had access to classified information since his suspension, and whether he hobnobbed with members of state’s Iran team. Mr. Hagerty is calling “for an independent investigation into whether State Dept officials complied with all appropriate laws & regulations w respect to the suspension of @USEnvoyIran’s access to classified info,” he tweeted. “The American people deserve answers.” Meanwhile, the state department keeps stonewalling. “We will be responding to committee today,” a spokesman, Matthew Miller, told reporters on Tuesday when asked about that day’s deadline as set by the House of Representatives for “full accounting” on Mr. Malley’s investigation.Yet, as of Thursday, Congress remains in the dark.In a June 30 letter to Secretary Blinken, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ chairman, Michael McCall, demanded answers relating to Mr. Malley within 10 days. The state department’s “response” that Mr. Miller promised on Tuesday contained no information whatsoever on Mr. Malley’s case, citing privacy rules.“Absolutely unacceptable,” Mr. McCall said. “Congress deserves to know exactly why the U.S. special envoy to Iran had his security clearance suspended, was then suspended from his position, and now, according to news reports, is being investigated by the FBI. This is a person whose mission is to negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nothing could be more serious than this.”Mr. Malley, an architect of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has long been seen by Iran hawks as too close to the mullah regime. In recent months he became the first administration representative to deal directly with an Iranian official, Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani.Iran sees Mr. Malley’s suspension as a blow to its interests. As America’s top negotiator, Mr. Malley “was on our side, and in talks with Iravani took steps to free frozen assets in exchange for prisoners,” a former Iranian diplomat, Javid Qorbanoghli, told a Farsi-language website, Entekhab. Now, he complained, Israel “succeeded to separate Malley from this file.” The administration has lately attempted to reach “understandings” with Iran, easing sanctions in return for release of Iranian-held American hostages and a freeze of the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment at the near-bomb grade 60 percent purity level. A deal, if reached, would be unofficial, to bypass the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which demanded congressional approval of any new deal with Tehran. Negotiations around these new understandings are being conducted in Oman with a White House adviser, Brett McGurk, at the helm. The absence of Mr. Malley, who had led such negotiations in the past, was first noticed when he failed to show up at a May 16 congressional briefing. News of his suspension from duty was then first reported on June 29 by the website Iran International. State department officials have at first said Mr. Malley had a “personal issue,” indicating that it had to do with his family. Following reporting, including Mr. Malley’s own confirmation, a spokesman finally confirmed that Mr. Malley has been suspended, but then went completely mum. “You would think the administration would proactively inform Congress that the person in charge of this doesn’t have the clearances to do their job, and that never happened,” the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Marco Rubio of Florida, said. “It’s not good.”Although some Democrats vouched for Mr. Malley’s careful protection of secrets, an unidentified former administration official told Politico that it’s rare for someone to have a security clearance suspended over a single mistake relating to classified material. One nagging question that has been raised by some followers of the Malley saga is what role Mr. Blinken is playing behind the scenes on stonewalling congressional oversight. Mr. Malley is a childhood friend of the secretary; they both attended a school at Paris. Even if unfair, such questions are likely to intensify as long as information on the case is unavailable to Congress and the press.“The administration cannot afford to keep stonewalling Congress on such an important national security matter,” an Iran watcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, Behnam Ben Taleblu, tells the Sun, adding that the coverup “should promote more bipartisan action and inquiry from Congress about the direction of Biden’s Iran policy.”A former hostage in Iran, Xiyue Wang, agrees. “In light of Rob Malley’s mishandling of classified information, Biden should suspend all negotiations with Iran at least until the investigation is concluded,” he tweeted.

In Case of Biden’s Man in Iran, an Omertà-Like Code of Silence

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