Posted on 08/29/2023 9:08:50 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
And does the Biden administration realize it? Congress increasingly suspects that Iran has more information about US policy than they do — and proof just dropped into their laps. Or, rather, on the doorsteps of Iranian newspaper subscribers.
For weeks, the House Foreign Affairs Committee has demanded to see why Biden’s special envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, suddenly got suspended from that position. They didn’t even know about it for two months, and spent the next two months trying to find out what happened. They don’t have to subpoena the State Department, however, as the Tehran Times published the “sensitive but unclassified” memo on Sunday.
Now Congress wants some answers, pronto, as Politico reported late yesterday:
The media outlet reported Sunday — based on what it claimed was an April 21 memo from a top State Department diplomatic security official to Malley — that Malley’s top secret clearance was suspended over “serious security concerns” related to his “personal conduct,” “handling of protected information” and “use of information technology.”
It published what it said was the memo, which is labeled as “sensitive but unclassified.”
A person familiar with the investigation into Malley who has seen the original memo told POLITICO that the Tehran Times’ version appeared to match that original. Like others contacted for this story, the person was granted anonymity to discuss a highly sensitive topic.
Follow the link to the Tehran Times if you want to be better informed than Congress had been until a hot second ago. One has to wonder why this memo was withheld from the committee in the first place. Its “sensitivity” relates to the personnel issues involved, not any specific nat-sec information. Malley had his clearance suspended pending further review over questions about his personal conduct, classified-material handling, and apparently some communications violations. There are no specifics in the memo relating to any of these allegations, so why State and the Biden administration denied Congress access to this is anyone’s guess.
That’s reason enough to steam House Foreign Affairs chair Mike McCaul (R-TX). But this isn’t the first time that the Biden administration has had sensitive information requested by Congress appear first on the hardliner-backed Tehran Times, and McCaul wants to know where the leak is:
“If this memo is authentic, it is extremely concerning, especially since this is not the first time the Iranian regime’s mouthpiece has appeared to have sensitive U.S. government information recently while Congress is kept in the dark,” McCaul said.
Close observers of Iran believe the English-language Tehran Times is controlled by hardline Iranian government factions. The outlet published several stories in recent months that appear to put it ahead of other media, including Washington outlets, on the Malley case.
Intelligence analyst John Schindler also notes that the Tehran Times has had a curiously good track record on getting closely held information on this story. Schindler also scolds the American media establishment in its comparatively poor reporting on Malley’s predicament:
The State Department and the White House remain silent about what’s going on here, over four months after Malley had his access to state secrets suspended. For their part, the mainstream media remains shockingly uninterested in this entire affair. Although MSM outlets have reported Malley’s career meltdown, they haven’t exactly been chomping at the bit to get to the bottom of this murky saga. The story appears too hot to touch for elite Washington journalists, contrary to their oft-professed desire to “speak truth to power.” When it comes to the Obama-Biden administrations, power beats out truth every time regarding muckraking reportage on the Potomac.
Which brings us to perhaps the oddest aspect of this decidedly odd scandal. Contrary to the timidity of the Washington press corps in this affair, state-linked Iranian media has broken several detailed exclusives in the Malley scandal. In particular, Tehran Times, an English-language outlet that’s cozy with Iran’s foreign ministry, has reported extensively on this story in a manner that puts American journalists to shame.
Now, the Tehran Times has dropped another bombshell by publishing what purports to be the State Department internal memo, dated April 21 of this year, informing Malley that his security clearances were suspended pending a counterintelligence investigation.
Schindler has more for his subscribers, but it’s enough to corroborate McCaul and Politico on the issue of “scoops” by the Tehran Times. Someone inside the Biden administration is leaking information to the Iranians. One might have considered the alternative scenario before this weekend, which is that the Iranian Foreign Ministry was simply sending their information to their own proxy publication. Now, however, that’s clearly not all that’s happening — not unless it’s SOP to copy the Iranians on “sensitive but unclassified” personnel memos, along with all of the e-mails and phone numbers for State Department officials involved in the review.
Especially with memos that the Biden administration and State Department refuse to allow Congress to access as part of their normal oversight function. Add that to the suspicions of incompetence in an administration that just agreed to free up $6 billion in frozen assets as a de facto ransom for a handful of American hostages in Tehran, and it looks as though a potential mole may not just be leaking information but helping to set policy, too.
The irony of this is that Malley might have been on the short list of people who would otherwise come under suspicion. Malley had a track record of sympathetic leanings toward Iran, which is undoubtedly why he had risen to the role in the first place. Malley had to walk away from Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign when his contacts with the State-listed, Iran-backed terror group Hamas came to light in May 2008. He joined the Obama administration’s National Security Council in February 2014 anyway, and led negotiations that led to Obama’s Iran deal. He came on board at the start of the Biden administration to restore the JCPOA, and has presided over a couple of questionable deal offers and actions, although the latest $6 billion ransom payment came after his suspension.
And this fits the allegations in the letter published by the Tehran Times, in a way: personal conduct regarding sensitive information and the use of information technology. But would Malley be so foolish as to make himself such an obvious suspect? This leak makes it seem as though the leaker might have a grudge against Malley by embarrassing him as well as the State Department. The Tehran Times clearly doesn’t much like Malley, accusing him of leading a “diplomatic coup” attempt against the Iranian mullahs during the Mahsa Amini protests last year.
And one last point: Malley presumably wants his job back. Would he torpedo that chance by leaking a memo about himself? And would the Iranians burn their source by putting him at the top of the suspect list? Both of those make it seem very unlikely that Malley is the Iranians’ source within the Biden administration, especially the latter.
Nevertheless, that still leaves the question as to how the Tehran Times knows more about the workings of State than Congress does, as well as the question of whether someone is influencing policy on behalf of the Iranian mullahs. McCaul needs to get to the bottom of both questions ASAP.
No kidding.
***Cough*** obama ***Cough***
Who doesn’t have a mole in this administration?
Not moles; beauty marx.
Robert O’Malley is another Obama/Biden “Red Diaper Baby” because his father Simon was a longtime pro-Soviet communist, starting out possibly in Egypt where he founded one of several Communist Party of Egypt organizations.
He and his whole family were kicked out of France for his communist operations including publishing a newspaper roughly entitled “Afrique-Asia”.
Information on Simon is strangely lacking at several search sites but www.keywiki.org should have some on its website.
Like father, like son? Seems that way, which is why Comrade Obama had him as a key person re the Middle East AFrica.
This, alone, is worth a full congressional investigation, including CIA and FBI classified files. Then we need to know who was the person/s who got him into both administrations.
And what would you call Victoria Nuland?
A Ukrainian mole?
Malley didn’t do anything that Biden didn’t do.
His name is John Kerry
A mole?!
Like they’re trying to hide it?!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Start with john kerry
A mole? Ridiculous. I’d be shocked if there were not a lot more than one.
*Mole=Employee
When do the pallets loaded with cash start arriving in Tehran?
FOUO became SBU and then CUI (controlled unclassified information). Not arguing with the need to protect the info at all, just what the big brains are calling things these days after W directed the change.
Yeah. Her name isValerie Jarrett. She ran the Obozo White House and was born in Iran.
“...after W directed the change...”
I looked at the EO, number 13292, and it really doesn’t change anything to make public sensitive information.
Sec. 1.4. Classification Categories. Information shall not be considered for classification unless it concerns:
(a) military plans, weapons systems, or OPERATIONS;
(b) foreign government information;
(c) INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES (including special activities), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology;
(d) foreign relations or foreign activities of the United States, including CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES;
(e) scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to the national security, which includes DEFENCE AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM;
https://sgp.fas.org/bush/eoamend.html
You’ll notice every one of those entries calls for the need of sensitive information protection. So the intent of the EO had nothing to do with the practices in place for security other than retelling of the need and what is requiring protect that was same as it was. It did not clear the way to totally declassify anything thus making the information available to the public or foreign nations.
I believe it is another case of what politicians can get away with rather than be forced to stay within the democratic process that governs the people. So they make tools to get away with things. And until enough notice of it is provided to the people it will be ignored which won’t happen until they can blame Trump for it and the horde of rhinos can sit on their hands and mouths watching the libs make them the fools. This is why political boards are so important as they can’t be manipulated like META or XCORP. Both main sources of funds comes primarily through profits earned from advertisers who use the platform to reach customers. But the customers have to reach back. Boards like FR don’t use, or even allow, advertising so they generate through the posters donations, not the advertisers profits. And Mr Robinson doesn’t just arbitrarily close an account because someone got close to a truth that smeared someone or the owner of the blog.
wy69
Simon Malley supported the Nasser revolution and interviewed Fidel Castro and Oliver Tambo. Robert Malley’s mother Barbara Malley nee Silverstein signed “An Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran” in 2008, along with many of the usual suspects—Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Phyllis Bennis, etc. As far as other Iran moles in the Biden administration, look no further than John Kerry and his (and Hillary’s and Obama’s) connection to Democratic Party financier Hassan Nemazee.
I would call Hunter Biden a Ukrainian mole and Joe a Mongolian nole
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