Iran envoy Malley may have been on ‘classified White House call’ after clearance suspended, watchdog finds

Iran envoy Robert Malley may have taken part in a “classified conference call” with the White House after his security clearance was suspended, according to the State Department inspector general’s new report. 

The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) did not interview Malley and could not confirm that he had been on the call, but his deputy notified a White House official that “Rob will call in” and that Malley had “accessed the controlled office where the call would have occurred.” 

At the time of the call, Malley’s clearance had been paused over misconduct allegations, but the envoy himself had not yet been notified. Malley – a controversial Washington figure who Republicans say is friendly to Iran – had been accused of storing classified information on his personal email account and phone. 

​​That material was later accessed by a “hostile cyber actor,” according to Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the Foreign Relations Committee ranking member, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair. They revealed this information in May. 

Robert Malley, Vice President for Policy of the International Crisis Group speaks during the Forum MED Mediterranean Dialogues summit in Rome, Italy on Nov. 30, 2017. (Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency/Getty

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