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Robert Malley

Personnel is policy. There is a fundamental difference between power and influence. Only people inside the government have the power to make policy. People outside the government can only influence policy. A fundamental distinction between insiders and outsiders is the security clearances that grant access to the meetings at which decisions are made, and the discussions and documents that form the basis for such decisions. One tried and true strategy for influencing policy is excluding people with disagreeable opinions. One proven means to this end is revoking their security clearances. Security investigations may become the continuation of policy disputes by other means.

Robert Malley is a Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson School. Malley is on leave from the U.S. State Department where he had been serving as Special Envoy for Iran since January 28, 2021. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of the International Crisis Group. Malley is the author of The Call from Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution and the Turn to Islam, and of articles published in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Le Monde, and several other publications.

Robert Malley is married to Caroline Brown, whom he met while both were students at Harvard Law School. The couple has three children: two sons, Miles and Blaise, and a daughter, Frances. Robert Malley was born in 1963 to Barbara (née Silverstein) Malley, a New Yorker who worked for the United Nations delegation of the Algerian National Liberation Front, and Simon Malley, an Egyptian-born Jewish journalist of Syrian descent. Simon Malley was a prominent figure in international journalism, known for his coverage of nationalist and anti-imperial movements in Africa. In 1969, the family moved to France, where Simon founded the magazine Africasia (later known as Afrique Asia), which focused on Third World issues. Robert attended École Jeannine Manuel, a prestigious bilingual school in Paris, and graduated in the same class as future U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The family remained in France until 1980, when they returned to the United States.

Malley has an extensive academic background. at Yale University he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. At Magdalen College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, he obtained a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in political philosophy. At Harvard Law School, he completed his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. Malley served as a law clerk to Justice Byron R. White of the United States Supreme Court in 1991-1992.

He first joined the National Security Council staff in August 1994 as Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Affairs (1994–1996): In this capacity, Malley coordinated U.S. policies on refugee issues, democracy promotion, human rights, and policy toward Cuba. In July 1997, he became Executive Assistant to the National Security Advisor from July 1997 to September 1998, acting as an informal chief of staff for Samuel R. Berger. Until January 2001, Malley was Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs and Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.

Malley founded and directed the International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa Program from January 2002. Prior to that, he was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He joined the National Security Council staff in February 2014 under President Barack Obama, where he served as Special Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor to the President for the Counter-ISIL campaign, and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf Region in 2015-2016 and, before that, as Senior Director for the Gulf Region and Syria. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a high school classmate of Malley’s in Paris, initially praised his diplomatic work. So did National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Sadra Torabi, writing in Tehran Times, reported 24 July 2023 "Malley is no dove on Iran. Right from the start, he sought to get some Iran hawks in Washington on board in his mission to further tighten the noose on Iran. He created the Group on Iran Policy, an informal platform intended to act as a brainstorming venue. During the tenure of Malley, the U.S. heaped more sanctions on Iran and threw its full weight behind the wave of unrest that gripped Iran in 2022, which indicate that the Biden administration seeks regime change in Iran. Malley implemented this policy wholeheartedly. "

Malley was placed on leave and had his security clearance suspended on 21 April 2023. Iran hawks, many of whom view Malley as too soft on Tehran, used the investigation into him to attack Biden’s policies toward Iran. Malley received a Memorandum from Erin Smart, the director of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Office of Personnel Security and Suitability, informing him of the reasons why his security clearance was withdrawn. In this letter, Smart determined that Malley’s “continued national security eligibility is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” according to the document seen by Sadegh Fereydounabadi of the the Tehran Times.

The Memorandum enumerated three reasons for the suspension of Malley’s security clearance that includes actions that have to do with personal conduct, handling of protected information, and use of information technology. “The DS Office of Personnel Security (DS/SI/PSS) has received information regarding you that raises serious security concerns and can be disqualifying under National Security Adjudicative Guidelines E (Personal Conduct), K (Handling of Protected Information), and M (Use of Information Technology),” Smart tersely told Malley. After explaining the next steps, Smart then asks Malley to turn in his building ID card, any government-issued credentials, and his diplomatic passport. After several weeks, Malley was sent on forced and unpaid leave, which is not exactly a dismissal.

Malley’s contact with his aides of Iranian descent contributed to his downfall. Malley had extensive contact with a web of Iranian-American figures, ranging from Ali Vaez and Vali Nasr to Trita Parsi, before assuming office. And his son was working with Parsi at the Quincy Institute. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation that if Malley “transferred intelligence and secrets to our foreign adversaries” that would amount to “treason.” McCaul said of Malley “There's no proof of that, but if he did, that would be treason in my view”.

Sadra Torabi reported" the main problem of Malley stems from his secret talks with Iranian Ambassador to the UN Saeid Iravani and his meetings with some of Iranian-American figures in the US. ... in what amount to a negotiation tactic, Malley has been in regular contact with various circles and people to advance his policies regarding Iran. Through these contacts, Malley sought to influence the calculations of the Iranian negotiating team. These people include Ali Vaez, Malley’s former right-hand man at the Crisis Group; Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; and Trita Parsi, the current colleague of Malley’s son at the Quincy Institute. They are Iranian Americans whose presence in Democrats’ Iran diplomacy during the Obama and Biden administrations is quite clear.... what is certain is that Robert Malley, who has had secret access and security clearances at the highest levels of the U.S. government for years, has been in full coordination with the U.S. State Department in promoting this negotiation tactic."

Semafor also reported in September 2023 that senior aides to Malley, both inside the U.S. government and at Crisis Group, had been part of the Iran Experts Initiative, a network of academics and researchers that Iranian officials used to promote Tehran’s positions on its nuclear program during the Obama Administration. Crisis Group disputes the characterization of IEI, calling it an informal network of researchers funded in part by a Western government.

On 23 January 2024, the State Department Inspector General office informed members of Congress that it had opened an internal investigation into the steps leading up to and after the suspension of the Biden administration’s special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley. The probe came in response to growing questions from U.S. lawmakers about Malley’s status and the reasons behind the Diplomatic Security Service’s decision to revoke his security clearance.

“The scope of the special review of the suspension of Robert Malley’s clearance will include the procedures the Department used in suspending the clearance as well as actions taken by the Department following the suspension,” Ryan Holden, the Inspector General’s director of congressional and public affairs, wrote in the letter. “This will include whether the Department followed proper procedures in suspending his clearance, determining what access to information he could maintain, and deciding the status of his employment.” Holden added in his letter: “The special review will also examine which officials were involved in these decisions and how the process compares to that used for other types of employees.”

Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote a letter 07 May 2024 to Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking more information. In the letter, the pair wrote that they have come to “understand” that Malley “allegedly transferred classified documents to his personal email account and downloaded these documents to his personal cellphone.” The letter continues: “It is unclear to whom he intended to provide these documents, but it is believed that a hostile cyber actor was able to gain access to his email and/or phone and obtain the downloaded information.”

“Media reports indicate that Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, was placed on unpaid leave after his security clearance was suspended earlier this year amidst an investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents,” the chairman wrote. “These reports raise serious concerns both regarding Malley’s conduct and whether the State Department misled Congress and the American public.”

Politico reported 10 May 2024 "The FBI is investigating whether the Biden administration’s Iran envoy, Rob Malley, moved classified information onto his personal email, where it may have fallen into the hands of a foreign actor, according to a person briefed on the case and a letter from Republican lawmakers. Investigators are trying to determine if any crimes were committed, according to the person briefed on the case and another person familiar with the matter. But it is not yet clear if the Department of Justice will bring any charges against Malley or what the scope of any charges might be. "