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From the Washington Free Beacon: Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) launched a probe into Vice President Kamala Harris’s national security adviser over his ties to an Iranian government influence network, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
In a Wednesday letter to Harris, Cotton and Stefanik asked the presumptive Democratic nominee to provide information about her adviser Phil Gordon’s “connections to Ms. Ariane Tabatabai, a senior Department of Defense official who was reportedly involved in an Iranian government operation to expand Tehran’s soft power in the United States.”
Gordon, the letter notes, coauthored at least three opinion pieces with Tabatabai that argued against sanctions on the Iranian regime. Tabatabai was outed last year as an alleged member of an Iranian-run influence network that reported back to Tehran’s foreign ministry.
Gordon’s connections to Tabatabai are fueling concerns ahead of the 2024 election. Gordon is likely to play a central national security role in a Harris White House, and his connections to pro-Tehran advocacy groups suggest that renewed diplomacy with Iran will be a top foreign policy priority for Harris if she is elected.
The report explains that Cotton and Stefanik are especially worried about Gordon’s access to classified information, and say he has published pieces with Tabatabai “blatantly promoting the Iranian regime’s perspective and interests.”
The situation is also linked to the Biden administration’s former Iran envoy, Robert Malley, who was indefinitely suspended from his job amid allegations that he leaked classified information.
In a statement, Rep. Stefanik wrote:
@VP Kamala Harris’ National Security Advisor has written numerous pro-Iran op-eds with a member of the Iranian Experts Initiative which is a group of policy analysts working directly with the Iranian regime to spread pro-Iran propaganda in America.
Last year, I led my colleagues in demanding @SecDef investigate this senior DoD official, yet the Biden Administration continues to fail to hold her accountable. The Biden-Harris Administration’s policy of appeasing Iran and punishing our great ally Israel will only get worse if Kamala Harris and the Iranian regime acolytes on her staff are elevated.
🚨 @VP Kamala Harris’ National Security Advisor has written numerous pro-Iran op-eds with a member of the Iranian Experts Initiative which is a group of policy analysts working directly with the Iranian regime to spread pro-Iran propaganda in America.
Last year, I led my… pic.twitter.com/FjZbFvT6Nw
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) July 29, 2024
Commenting on the case, Sen. Cotton wrote, “The Biden-Harris Administration is no stranger to Iran accommodators, appeasers, and accomplices. Kamala Harris needs to explain her national security advisor’s potential ties to pro-Iran groups.”
The Biden-Harris Administration is no stranger to Iran accommodators, appeasers, and accomplices.
Kamala Harris needs to explain her national security advisor’s potential ties to pro-Iran groups. https://t.co/x4h8X1jH16
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 31, 2024
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) July 31, 2024
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