Top military aide Ariane Tabatabai has been allowed to keep her job and receive higher clearances while under investigation for her role in an Iranian influence scheme, the New York Post reported. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's administration has yet to answer for this fact.
There is growing concern about the Biden administration's complacency as threats to national security continue to escalate. One of the main sources comes from the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The terrorist organization attacked America's ally and spawned a new war in the region. Because it's known that Iran supports terrorism and Hamas, it may have a well-placed asset in Tabatabai.
The Iranian-born aide is the chief-of-staff to Christopher Maier, who is the Pentagon's assistant secretary of defense for special operations. She is also leveling up to become a U.S. reserve naval intelligence officer.
This would give her even more access to high-level personnel and could compromise their security. At a time when she and others are under investigation over fears of Iranian infiltration into the government apparatus, it's puzzling that she remains so close to America's secrets.
Tabatabai recently completed five months of training that would open the doors to wider access to government information while she's still the subject of a counterintelligence investigation. Her clearance also gives her access to the whereabouts of American warships, which could hinder a military offensive if the time comes.
A Navy officer speaking under the condition of anonymity shared these concerns with the Post. "The Navy has been actively training her to be an intelligence officer and giving her access to, not just what she has in her civilian job, but access to all the need-to-know information that a reserve unit has," the officer said.
“This naval reserve [role] gives her more clearance and access. Everyone she has contact with in the Navy intelligence realm is now potentially outed."
This investigation has been going on for some time without any moves toward clipping Tabatabai's wings. "It’s a clear and present danger in that even if [the investigation] affords her the right to due process, her clearance still should be on hold, and she should not have any access to go into the Pentagon or any other military installation," the officer pointed out.
Notably, the FBI has been barred from conducting the probe. It's unclear who exactly is running the investigation, and the Pentagon skirted a media inquiry by simply stating to the Post that it would "not meet your deadline."
The most compelling evidence yet against Tabatabai may be her ties to Robert Malley. He served as Iran's special envoy until his security clearances were suspended in April, and he was put on unpaid leave in June.
His status remains that way as the investigation drags on, but the Biden administration offers no informal except that it must keep mum "due to privacy considerations." Leaked emails show that Tabatabai was in frequent contact with Malley and other senior officials in Iran.
Facing the White House's wall of silence on the issue, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and 30 of his GOP colleagues petitioned the Pentagon for answers but got none. "Hamas’ barbaric attack on Oct. 7 tragically demonstrated the folly of this administration’s coddling of the Iranian regime. Maybe now they will take our concerns with Ms. Tabatabai’s connections to the Iranian government seriously, but I’m not holding my breath," he wrote.
There's no reason Tabatabai should be anywhere near America's secrets while under investigation. The fact that she is points to incompetence, complacency, or intentional collusion.
