Biden’s suspended Iran envoy draws scrutiny from GOP lawmakers

Congressional lawmakers are raising alarm over President Joe Biden’s special envoy to Iran, who came under investigation by the FBI after his security clearance with the State Department was suspended earlier this year.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the most recent among a string of Republican lawmakers who have reached out to the government for information about Rob Malley in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Israel and the unanswered questions about whether Iran was involved.

WHY THE REPUBLICANS CAN’T JUST GET ALONG

Issa, who wrote a letter to the FBI about Malley on Oct. 13, accused the Biden administration of “stonewalling” lawmakers about the suspended official in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

“Was America’s envoy to Iran in some way Tehran‘s man in Washington? The curious case of Rob Malley is like Biden‘s failed Iran policy: the stonewalling, the secrecy and the strong scent of scandal,” Issa said.

Issa, a longtime oversight hawk and senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member, had asked the FBI to provide him with information about its inquiry into Malley, which was reported by Semafor in July.

The FBI frequently noted that it does not discuss nonpublic information about open investigations, but Issa contended to Director Christopher Wray that “the probe into Iran’s influence operations and any improper or illegal involvement by Mr. Malley, has grown far beyond a mere criminal investigation over his security clearance and now impinges on our national security.”

The FBI confirmed to the Washington Examiner it had received Issa’s letter but that it could “neither confirm nor deny conducting specific investigations.”

In addition to Issa, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) asked the State Department on Oct. 10 to provide a number of documents and communications related to Malley as well as to provide his committee with a staff-level briefing about him.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, said during an interview on Fox News this week he has been pushing the Democratic-led committee to hold a hearing on Malley.

Malley, once a top adviser to former President Barack Obama, has been a central figure in the Biden administration’s Iran policy, including negotiating with Tehran on the Iran nuclear deal.

Malley has generally appeared to stay in good standing with Democrats, but according to one senior GOP aide, Malley has been “so suspicious as a briefer” that certain members of Congress have in the past refused to attend classified briefings led by him.

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While the war in Israel has intensified lawmakers’ concerns about Malley, he first prompted questions in June, when reports broke about his security clearance suspension. A leaked document in the Tehran Times showed the State Department, however, quietly placed him on leave in April.

Asked for a request for comment on Malley, a State Department spokesperson said, “Rob Malley remains on leave, and we have no further comment.”