‘Completely Unacceptable’: House Foreign Affairs Chair Slams State Department’s Handling of Suspended Iran Envoy

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) on Tuesday slammed the State Department for its inadequate response to his request for information about the suspension of Robert Malley, the US Special Envoy for Iran.

Malley is officially on leave without pay pending an FBI investigation into his potential mishandling of classified information. CNN first reported on 29 June that Malley has been on leave since his security clearance was suspended at an unspecified date earlier in the year. On 30 June, McCaul wrote a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding a detailed accounting of Malley’s suspension, which the State Department responded to on Tuesday.

The State Department’s response letter said that the department “is not in a position to provide further documents or information related to this personnel-security clearance matter” and said that it needed additional time to respond to McCaul’s request about Malley’s leave status given the “sensitivity” and “privacy related interests” of that information.

“This is an absolutely unacceptable response,” McCaul said in a statement to The Algemeiner. “Congress deserves to know exactly why the U.S. Special Envoy to Iran had his security clearance suspended, was then suspended from his position, and now, according to news reports, is being investigated by the FBI. This is a person whose mission is to negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran – nothing could be more serious than this. I will be following up with the State Department to get a classified briefing next week.”

McCaul’s 30 June letter said that the State Department’s failure to inform Congress about Malley’s status “demonstrates at best a lack of candor, and at worst represents deliberate and potentially unlawful misinformation.”

Adding to the speculation about Malley’s suspension is an Iranian state media report claiming to have additional, exclusive information about the case. The Tehran Times on Friday reported that Malley’s “suspension” began on 21 April, and included speculation that Malley might have improperly disclosed classified information to unnamed Iranian “brokers and experts”. It also said that Malley had not been in contact with either Secretary Blinken or the now-acting Iran envoy Abram Paley since his suspension.

State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller at a press conference on Tuesday said that Malley had stopped performing the duties of Iran envoy on 29 June, that he had gone on leave “several weeks before that” but could not specify when due to privacy concerns, and said he would not comment on whether Malley had met with Blinken or Paley since going on leave. Miller also cast doubt on the Iranian media’s claim to have exclusive information, saying he disagreed with the notion that they had more information about the affair than the State Department press corps.

Malley’s suspension comes as the Biden administration continues to seek a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program, potentially including a return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Malley.

In March the US and Iran held so-called “proximity talks” in Oman, with US diplomat Brett McGurk exchanging messages with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator through Omani mediators. Those negotiations have raised concerns in Congress that the Biden administration might seek an informal “understanding” or entente with Iran on the nuclear file short of a full return to the JCPOA. In June, McCaul said he was “deeply disturbed” by reports of those negotiations and wrote a letter to the Biden administration insisting that even an informal agreement with Iran would still be subject to Congressional review under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015.

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