The Harris-Biden administration’s suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley may have taken part in a “classified White House-organized” call after his top secret security clearance was frozen over allegations of misconduct, according to the State Department’s internal watchdog.
The State Department’s Office of the Inspector General concluded Wednesday the officials at the department “deviated from the way that suspensions are typically delivered” when they disciplined Malley for allegedly mishandling classified information; allowed him to access sensitive information for weeks after the suspension; and did not report the clearance suspension to the OIG, as required by law.
The OIG report, obtained by The Post, notes that the State Department officials opted to delay notifying Malley about his suspended clearance for an entire day, “until senior Department officials were apprised,” which allowed Malley the opportunity to get on the classified call with the White House.
“The notification delay allowed Special Envoy Malley the opportunity to participate in a secure telephone call with White House officials on Friday, April 21 [2023], which occurred after his clearance was suspended but before he was notified,” the report states.
The OIG did not interview Malley and could not confirm that he actually participated on the call, but found that his deputy notified a White House official that “Rob will call in” and that Malley “accessed the controlled office where the call would have occurred.”
On April 22, 2023, the State Department notified Malley of his clearance suspension and barred him from accessing the department’s “Sensitive But Unclassified [SBU] information system.”
However, days later, under pressure from senior officials, Malley’s access to sensitive information was restored, as was his access to his State Department email account.
State Department officials told OIG investigators that they believed restoring Malley’s access “presented a low risk” and there were worries the Iran envoy “might resort to using personal email to conduct official business” if the request was denied.
The OIG report notes that access to SBU information “generally is restricted for employees whose clearances are suspended in similar circumstances to Special Envoy Malley” and that concerns about Malley using his personal email if his department email access was not restored was “a questionable justification” given that doing so would violate department policy.
The report determined that Malley’s “lack of supervision” led to “significant confusion” at the State Department when his clearance was suspended.
“The lack of supervision of Special Envoy Malley led to significant confusion as to what work Mr. Malley was authorized to do following the suspension,” the report states. “The Department failed to consistently notify employees who regularly interacted with Mr. Malley that he was no longer allowed to access classified information. These conditions likely led to Special Envoy Malley engaging on issues outside the limited scope of issues on which he was authorized to work.”
The State Department never reported Malley’s suspension to the OIG, in violation of federal law, investigators found.
The Department of State Authorities Act requires the State Department to report allegations of criminal activity and serious misconduct committed by senior level officials to OIG within 5 business days.
“OIG found that senior Department officials never reported Special Envoy Malley’s security clearance suspension to OIG as required by the Authorities Act,” the report states. “Even after the leadership of [Diplomatic Security] became aware of the allegations against Special Envoy Malley, they still did not report the matter to OIG.”
Malley’s clearance was suspended amid allegations that he stored classified material on his personal email account and cellphone.
That material was later accessed by a “hostile cyber actor,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member James Risch (R-Idaho) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) revealed in May.
Malley was quietly placed on unpaid leave last June amid the probe.
The special envoy “continued to work for approximately 10 weeks before he was placed on leave without pay and directed to cease working on Department business” the report, which will be released to the public on Thursday, noted.
The Post has reached out to the State Department for comment.
In a joint statement, Risch and McCaul said the report was “disturbing” and “sheds light on the multiple ways the State Department grossly mismanaged Rob Malley’s case and intentionally misled Congress.”
“Robert Malley, a political appointee and close associate of the secretary, was treated very differently than a civil servant or foreign service officer,” the lawmakers said.
They argued that the State Department’s concern that Malley might have resorted to using his private email account to conduct government work was “valid” because “it is one of the primary things Mr. Malley did to get his clearance suspended in the first place.”
“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,” Risch and McCaul said. “These revelations are quite damning, but not surprising.”
They added that “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.”
