The House Oversight Committee is renewing its demands for answers from the Biden administration over its policy toward and actions with Iran following the barbaric attack by Iranian-supported Hamas terrorists against Israel.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) express their alarm over "the Biden Administration’s efforts to conceal details about its ongoing secret nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran from Congress," action that suggest Biden & Co. are "ignoring statutory obligations for congressional oversight."
What's more, the House Republican lawmakers explain, the Biden administration's "lack of transparency is even more troubling in light of press reports about Iran’s direct role in this weekend’s horrific attack on Israel by Hamas and additional revelations that former Special Envoy for Iran (SEI), Robert Malley, and members of his negotiating team may have had compromising ties to the Iranian regime." We request
More from the letter on the Biden administration's concerning actions toward the Iranian regime:
The United States made recent concessions to Iran, potentially in violation of the Iranian Nuclear Review Act (INARA). These concessions occurred as Mr. Malley—the Administration’s top negotiator with Iran—is under investigation for the alleged mishandling of classified material.
Mr. Malley already had a history of appeasing United States’ adversaries, including meeting with the terrorist group Hamas. The ongoing investigation into Mr. Malley’s security violations are so serious that he was suspended from his position without pay. Further, the investigation was initially hidden from Congress, the American people, and even his fellow State Department officials.
According to recent media reports, a former member of Mr. Malley’s Iran negotiating team, Ariane Tabatabai, was in close contact with the Iranian regime for years. Ms. Tabatabai participated in the regime-backed Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), which was launched by senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials in the spring of 2014. The alleged purpose of the initiative was to cultivate a network of European and U.S. researchers that could be used to bolster Iran’s image on global security matters, especially its nuclear program. Its members reportedly worked very closely with the Iranian regime toward this end. Incredibly, despite her previous contact with Iranian regime officials through this unofficial regime-backed network, including consulting with them regarding her potential travel, Ms. Tabatabai is now a high-level staffer within the Department of Defense where she continues to hold a security clearance.
To get to the bottom of what exactly the Biden administration was up to, how it made hiring decisions, and whether conversations with Iran have been concealed from lawmakers and other federal departments the Oversight Committee requested a staff-level briefing from the State Department by October 18 as well as "documents, information, and a briefing to assist the Committee’s investigation of these matters" by October 25.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) October 11, 2023
Following a series of failed policy decisions regarding Iran, we are launching an investigation into the Biden Administration’s use of officials with compromising ties to the Iranian regime in secret negotiations.@RepJamesComer & @RepGrothman are leading the… pic.twitter.com/1KmdcRkNgk
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