Two Republican members of Congress have alleged that the suspension of the US Iran envoy, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/08/22/us-politicians-press-for-answers-on-robert-malleys-absence-from-iran-envoy-post/" target="_blank">Robert Malley</a>, centres on how he sent classified documents to his personal email and downloaded them on his phone, according to reports. <i>The Washington Post</i> and Reuters reported this week that Senate foreign relations committee ranking member Jim Risch and House foreign affairs committee chairman Mike McCaul made the claims in a May 6 letter sent to Secretary of State <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/05/01/blinken-israel-hamas/" target="_blank">Antony Blinken</a>. The reports published this week said the congressional leaders did not specify the source of their claims. The letter said that “it is believed that a hostile cyber actor was able to gain access to his email and/or phone and obtain the downloaded information”. A <i>Politico</i> report on Friday said that the FBI is conducting a criminal inquiry and investigating whether a foreign agent gained possession of sensitive documents. Last year, the House foreign affairs committee told <i>The National</i> that President Joe Biden's administration had <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/08/02/biden-administration-refused-to-give-congress-information-on-iran-envoy-malley/" target="_blank">“refused”</a> to give information about Mr Malley's suspension in closed-door congressional meetings. The State Department <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/06/30/robert-malley-iran-leave/">confirmed</a> Mr Malley's suspension in June, right after <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/06/12/us-iran-talks-took-place-in-oman-tehran-says/">US officials travelled to Oman</a> for indirect talks with Iran, according to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The career diplomat announced in the months following that he had joined <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2023/08/16/robert-malley-joins-princeton-university-while-on-leave-from-iran-special-envoy-post/" target="_blank">Princeton University's</a> faculty, adding in a statement published by the Ivy League institution that he would return to government service “in due course”. The House committee representative told <i>The National</i> last year that the Biden administration had cited the Privacy Act in its tight-lipped response to questions over Mr Malley's leave. The Privacy Act “prohibits the disclosure of a record about an individual from a system of records absent the written consent of the individual”, according to the Department of Justice, but has exceptions for disclosure, including to Congress.