The State Department grossly mishandled its suspension of scandal-plagued Iran envoy Robert Malley, allowing him to continue accessing classified information and sensitive data after he was disciplined, according to an inspector general report reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

The department’s assistant inspector general gathered congressional staffers Wednesday afternoon for a closed-door briefing on the agency’s missteps after Malley had his security clearance pulled in 2023 for mishandling classified information. The briefing revealed that Malley was permitted to engage in classified activities even after his clearance was pulled, representing a breach of federal protocol, according to attendees. Malley was also treated differently than other employees accused of a major security breach, with the State Department working to shield him from public embarrassment, according to the inspector general report that accompanied the briefing. […]

The investigation into Malley quickly sparked a firestorm on Capitol Hill, with the House Foreign Affairs Committee accusing the State Department of stonewalling multiple requests for information. The committee, in fact, only learned of Malley’s alleged indiscretion through media reports.

“The Department’s failure to inform Congress of this matter demonstrates at best a lack of candor, and at worst represents deliberate and potentially unlawful misinformation,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), the committee’s chairman, wrote in a June 2023 letter to the State Department first reported by the Free Beacon.

Since that time, lawmakers have received almost no information from the Biden-Harris administration, making Wednesday’s briefing a topic of much interest among foreign policy leaders in Congress.

rtwt

(2) NPR tries to claim that Rich Lowry used the n-word in an interview. Of course he did not, and they know it. Doesn’t mean they won’t claim it.

I am reminded of a story IIRC that LBJ used to tell. There was a county sheriff who, during an election campaign, said “My opponent (does unmentionable things to) hogs.”
Someone said to the sheriff, “You KNOW he doesn’t do that.”
“I know he doesn’t, but I love to hear him deny it.”