In Typical Fashion, Biden Admin Still Won’t Say Why Its Iran Envoy Was Suspended

By Lee Zeldin

Americans are growing increasingly concerned about emerging national security threats. While Joe Biden rambles, mumbles and shuffles, our adversaries are ramping up anti-Western activities and alliances.

Take Iran, for example, the largest state sponsor of terrorism. As former President Donald Trump said during the first presidential debate, Iran was broke when he left office. Iran was buckling under the maximum pressure campaign and faced significant setbacks to their nuclear program.

All Joe Biden had to do was continue implementing the Trump approach that was working. Yet, as we have seen with the border and the economy, Biden and his handlers have been obsessed with undoing every Trump-era policy they inherited.

Three years later, Iran is more powerful and closer to a nuclear weapon than they have ever been. Their newly refilled coffers are funding terror proxies across the Middle East.

Biden released billions of dollars to Iran on September 11, 2023, just weeks before Hamas’ vicious October 7 attack on Israel. An emboldened Iran is dangerous for all of us. Not only has the Biden administration embraced soft-on-Iran policies, they have actively relied on Iranian sympathizers to guide American foreign policy.

Example number one is disgraced ex-Special Envoy to Iran Rob Malley.

Malley has been influencing Middle Eastern policy for Democrat administrations dating back to the Presidency of Bill Clinton. In 2008, he lost a key adviser position on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for holding unauthorized meetings with leaders of Hamas, a red line that even the then-Democrat nominee would not cross.

Even so, Obama showed loyalty to this Hamas apologist and offered him a key role in his administration. Malley ultimately led efforts to draft the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Today, Malley is on unpaid leave from Biden’s State Department. His security clearance was reportedly revoked in April 2023 for allegedly sharing sensitive and classified materials outside of United States government channels to advance diplomatic efforts with Iran.

Even after it came to light that Malley may have illegally downloaded classified documents, he continued his work for months. Was he spying for Iran?

It has now been nearly a year since the State Department launched an investigation into Malley. The administration, however, still refuses to share findings from this investigation, and answer important questions formally asked by top Members of Congress.

On May 6, 2024, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator James Risch (R-ID) and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul (R, TX-10) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking answers about Malley’s suspension. They asked questions like: why was he suspended, what led to his suspension, were secret documents given to unauthorized sources, and is the State Department planning to lift his suspension?

In typical fashion, the Biden administration offered no answers. These are very simple questions that Congress and the American people have a right to know.

Congress should immediately conduct a hearing into this troubling issue by summoning Secretary Blinken and Mr. Malley to testify.
The American people deserve the truth about the very real national security concerns Malley has posed, especially at a time when an emboldened Iran has stepped up its efforts to target our interests around the globe.

Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) represented the Third District in the New York State Senate from 2011 to 2014 and the First Congressional District of New York from 2015 to 2023. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2022.