The State Department inspector general’s report on the suspension of Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley’s security clearance revealed a series of missteps and miscommunication among senior State Department officials. 

The report says that State Department officials allowed Malley, who is on leave from his role while under federal investigation for his alleged mishandling of classified information, to continue working in his role without informing his supervisor, former Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, or other officials he engaged with of his suspension. 

“Mr. Malley was left in place as the Special Envoy for Iran, a title he still holds, with only a few senior officials knowing the reason for his absence from the office in the weeks following his clearance suspension. This situation presented a serious risk that he would be privy to highly sensitive information that should not have been shared with an employee whose security clearance was suspended,” the report reads. 

The OIG report also reveals that the department did not report the suspension of Malley’s security clearance to the Office of the Inspector General, a departure from protocol, and that officials requested he be allowed to continue his work using an unclassified system. 

Asked about the State Department’s explanations for their handling of the Malley situation during a closed door briefing on the report on Wednesday, OIG officials responded that the excuses provided were not credible, according to a Senate staffer in attendance. Officials also said during the briefing that Malley largely operated without new guardrails put in place despite his clearance being suspended. 

Investigators wrote in the report that Undersecretary for Management John Bass and Chief of Staff to the Secretary Suzy George “had never experienced a political appointee’s security clearance being suspended, particularly a political appointee who was a direct report to the Secretary in a high-profile position,” prior to Malley. 

“Due to the lack of precedent, there was uncertainty about how to address the situation. The lack of such procedures affected several key decisions regarding Mr. Malley,” the report states. 

The OIG said that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s delay in notifying Malley and those around him of his security clearance suspension “allowed him the opportunity to participate in a classified conference call after the suspension was approved.” State officials also restored access to a “Sensitive But Unclassified” email system, “which generally is restricted for employees whose clearances are suspended in similar circumstances.”

“A key justification for this decision was that there was concern that he might turn to personal email if his Department email access was not restored – a questionable justification given that Department policy prohibits using personal email as the primary means of conducting government business,” according to the report. 

GOP lawmakers expressed concern about the report’s findings and demanded more transparency.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that the report is “disturbing and sheds light on the multiple ways the State Department grossly mismanaged Rob Malley’s case and intentionally misled Congress.”

“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. These revelations are quite damning, but not surprising,” the statement read. “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. As we continue working to uncover the truth, we intend to use our authorities to hold the Biden-Harris Administration to account.”

“I want all this stuff to be made available to Congress given our constitutional oversight responsibility. There’s no reason for holding it up, because if we have people that have acted against U.S. interests in regard to Iran, and you’ve got to consider Iran an enemy of the United States, we ought to know what that was,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told Jewish Insider.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told JI in a statement that “The Biden-Harris State Department took extraordinary steps to shield Malley and paper over his violations, so that he could continue implementing their appeasement of the Iranian regime. They kept him connected to sensitive State Department infrastructure and even the IG says their excuses for doing so aren’t satisfactory.”

“Even more appallingly, they are even now continuing to stonewall Congress and refusing to disclose critical details even to members. It’s clear that no one will be held accountable until there is a Republican president and Republican Congress,” he added. 

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) pointed to the federal probe of Malley that’s underway. 

“We see growing evidence of Iran collusion by members of the Biden-Harris administration amid the FBI’s reported ongoing investigation into Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley’s mishandling of classified information and news reports that Malley and other Biden-Harris Administration officials were part of the Iranian regime’s malign influence network known as the ‘Iran Experts Initiative,’” Hagerty said.

“The Inspector General’s report today includes new damning revelations about the cover-up, politicization, and systemic lack of accountability in the Biden-Harris Administration’s State Department amid the Malley scandal. If the Trump Administration had done anything like this, this story would be leading the news on a daily basis,” his statement continued. 

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) similarly described the report as “disturbing,” arguing it “reaffirms a clear pattern of incompetence and failure from the Biden-Harris Administration when it comes to national security. At every turn, this administration has been dangerously weak on Iran.”

“The American people are less safe today because of the Biden-Harris hollow doctrine of appeasement, and we still deserve transparent answers to serious questions concerning Mr. Malley. It is past time to return to an administration that understands peace is achieved through strength and that the correct approach to Iran is a bone-crushing, maximum pressure sanctions campaign,” Britt said.