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Lawmaker demands answers after Biden official implicated in Iranian influence scheme: 'Unbelievable!'
Fox News
A Biden nominee was confronted by Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst over another official maintaining a security clearance after being implicated in an Iranian influence operation.
"I didn’t think the Biden admin’s appeasement of Iran could get worse. Today, I confronted them on allowing an Iranian spy to infiltrate and work at the Pentagon. They DEFENDED it. Unbelievable!" Ernst wrote on X following the hearing, including a video of her pressing Chollet on Tabatabai's security clearance, which she noted remains in effect. Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.
According to a Tuesday report by Semafor, a digital news website, Tabatabai was one of the "influential overseas academics" the program sought to build ties with in its quest to "bolster" Iran's "image and positions on global security issues — particularly its nuclear program."