The U.S. State Department’s internal inspector general determined that suspended Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley was improperly allowed to access classified materials after his suspension, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
According to a report obtained by the AP, the department “deviated” from its standard procedures in handling the case and created “significant confusion as to what work Mr. Malley was authorized to do following the suspension.”
“The department failed to consistently notify employees who regularly interacted with Mr. Malley that he was no longer allowed to access classified information,” the report said. “These conditions likely led to special envoy Malley engaging on issues outside the limited scope of issues on which he was authorized to work.”
Malley was allowed to participate in a classified White House call on Iran one day after his suspension was enacted but before he was informed about it, according to the report. Senior State Department officials also successfully restored access to his suspended, unclassified email account.
The inspector general report was circulated within the department on Tuesday and delivered to Congress on Wednesday.
Malley has been on leave without pay from the State Department since June 2023, when media reports revealed that he was under FBI investigation for potentially mishandling classified information. In August 2023, Malley accepted a visiting professorship at Princeton University and a senior fellowship at Yale University despite still being listed by the State Department as its special envoy for Iran.
As the Biden administration’s point man on negotiations with the Islamic Republic, Malley led efforts to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the formal name for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—that he helped negotiate during the Obama administration.
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly complained about the lack of transparency regarding Malley’s suspension. In July, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to threaten the department with a subpoena if it was not more forthcoming about Malley’s suspension.
“The department’s failure to cooperate with our repeated inquiries dating back to June 2023 into the suspension of Mr. Robert Malley’s security clearance is deeply troubling,” McCaul and Risch wrote. “Mr. Malley’s alleged misconduct is serious, and the department’s lack of transparency and blatant disregard for the urgency of our requests is unacceptable.”
The State Department has previously declined to comment on the matter beyond confirming that Malley is on leave and that his job responsibilities have been taken over by Abram Paley, the deputy special envoy for Iran.
The State Department did not immediately respond to JNS’s request for comment.
