U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s lack of response to a July 31 letter about her national security adviser’s ties to an alleged foreign spy “raises the question of whether you’ve been aware of Mr. [Philip] Gordon’s possible links to the Iranian regime and simply find your policies aligned enough with Tehran’s interests that ties to that regime don’t concern you,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote to Harris on Thursday.
The senator pointed out that Gordon is connected to Ariane Tabatabai, a suspected Iranian agent. “The presence of such an obvious security risk in your inner circle should have elicited your utmost attention,” the senator wrote.
“In social-media posts since our last letter, Mr. Gordon continues to demonstrate a pattern of anti-Israel bias, which furthers Iranian interests. If he’s willing to ridicule Israel so unfairly in public, we can only imagine what he is telling you in private,” Cotton added.
“I understand that it may be difficult to discern Iranian agents from the left-wing ideologues on your staff. But you have the responsibility to make these difficult distinctions and appropriately vet the people you elevate to positions of distinction and trust.”
