A watchdog group is suing the Biden-Harris administration for obstructing its probe into the State Department's suspension of embattled Iran envoy Robert Malley, who remains the subject of an FBI investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified information, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) sued the State Department late last week for reams of internal communications related to Malley, his 2023 suspension, and any subsequent discussions regarding the nature of information he may have compromised, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Free Beacon.
The State Department has blocked CASA's investigation for nearly seven months, ignoring a series of Freedom of Information Act requests aimed at unearthing details about the circumstances surrounding Malley's suspension and subsequent efforts to hide his misdeeds from Congress.
Nearly a year and a half after the agency stripped Malley of his security clearance and placed him on unpaid leave, lawmakers and the public still know little about the charges leveled against him. The State Department has repeatedly ignored congressional investigations into the matter and is now preventing outside organizations like CASA from obtaining relevant internal records.
Though Malley has been out of government since 2023, several of his protégés, including Pentagon staffer Ariane Tabatabai, remain in high-level positions. Tabatabai was outed last year as a member of a secretive Iran-controlled propaganda group known as the Iran Experts Initiative. A separate watchdog group, America First Legal, sued the Biden administration last month for obstructing a probe into Tabatabai's activities at the Pentagon, the Free Beacon reported.
CASA's April 2024 FOIA instructed the State Department to hand over all records related to Malley's "clearance," "suspension," "unpaid leave," "serious security concerns," and "handling of protected information."
Media reports since then suggest Malley may have moved classified information onto his personal email, where it could have leaked into public view. Congress, as well as CASA, are pursuing similar angles, suspecting that a series of internal State Department documents that appeared in the Iranian state-controlled press last year could be related to Malley's mishandling of sensitive documents.
In August 2023, shortly after Malley's suspension became public, the Tehran Times published reports containing "sensitive but unclassified" State Department documents, including one that outlined the reasons Malley had his security clearance revoked. A month later, the state-controlled outlet published audio of Brett McGurk, the National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, privately discussing "national security options towards Iran."
CASA, in its request to the State Department, requested all internal communications related to the Tehran Times, hoping to identify the source of the leaks. The agency has not produced those documents.
In addition to the State Department, the watchdog group is suing the National Archives and Records Administration for records pertaining to Malley's time as a special assistant to former president Barack Obama. Malley worked on negotiating the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, diplomacy he resumed when he joined the Biden-Harris administration.
CASA believes these records could shine light on Malley's longstanding ties to senior Iranian officials, including former president Hassan Rouhani and others responsible for inking a deal that brought billions into the hardline regime's coffers.
The organization first requested documents in November 2023, shortly after Malley's suspension became public. The national records agency in a December 2023 notice to CASA identified more than 200,000 relevant electronic files but has not released a single one.
A September report from the State Department's inspector general found the administration grossly mishandled Malley's suspension, allowing him to participate in classified activities and access sensitive information even after he was disciplined. Senior State Department officials also worked to shield Malley from public embarrassment, hiding the security situation from Congress, the American public, and even other Biden-Harris administration officials.
"There is mass confusion on what authority Malley had to view classified documents and when he had it—this is unacceptable given Malley's past involvement with the Iran Experts Initiative and his advocacy for providing international assistance to Hamas," said CASA director James Fitzpatrick.
Given the State Department's documented failures, Fitzpatrick said, "now is the proper time to bring suit to obtain the records and communications that CASA requested in multiple FOIA requests related to Malley for maximum transparency related to this situation."