Malley was able to access sensitive but unclassified information despite State Department employees not being allowed this access when suspended.
The State Department mishandled its suspension of Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, according to a report released by the department’s inspector general on Sept. 18.
The department generally followed protocol, as Malley was placed on leave last year, but sidestepped it in how it delivered the suspension news to Malley, according to the report. This delay allowed Malley to partake in an April 21, 2023, classified conference call with White House officials despite the suspension being enacted, though he had not yet been notified of it.
When a department employee has his or her security clearance suspended, he or she is asked by email to contact the official from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security that sent him or her the message, according to the department. Upon meeting the official, the employee is taken to the badge office.
A bureau official was going to deliver the notification to Malley on April 21, 2023, but was ordered by a superior, Carlos Matus, to delay doing so. Malley received the letter the following day and turned in his department badge and diplomatic passport.
Malley was going to be given notification to meet an official from the bureau at the badging office instead of going to the bureau so as to avoid being noticed by other employees and therefore feel embarrassed, according to the report.
Additionally, Malley was able to access sensitive but unclassified information despite State Department employees not being allowed this access when suspended.
A main reason the department gave him back that access was due to the possibility of Malley using a personal email account due to his professional account being restricted. The department prohibits its employees from conducting department business by personal email.
“The department failed to consistently notify employees who regularly interacted with Mr. Malley that he was no longer allowed to access classified information,” according to the report.
At the end of the day, stated the report, “the department does not have established procedures, nor any recent precedent, to use as guidance when a political appointee’s security clearance is suspended, and the absence of guidance resulted in confusion and a lack of oversight.”
Therefore, said the report, Malley was able to deal with “issues outside the limited scope of issues on which he was authorized to work.”
The inspector general did not interview Malley, who remains suspended, in the investigation.
In a joint statement, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee called the report “disturbing.”
“Instead of taking this seriously, the State Department and the White House have tried to sweep this under the rug and bury Mr. Malley’s egregious violations of our national security,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho).
“These revelations are quite damning, but not surprising. Congress remains in the dark on how Mr. Malley’s infractions impacted the conduct of the administration’s disastrous approach to Iran, or affected the safety of Americans,” they continued.
The two went on to say their committees “intend to use our authorities to hold the Biden-Harris administration to account.”