Robert Malley repudiated reports that he resigned from Barack Obama’s campaign, saying he was never a formal part of it.
“On May 9th, the Times of London published a story, quickly picked up by several other news outlets, that I had (depending on the sources) stepped down or been dismissed as a Middle East adviser to Senator Obama’s campaign after I disclosed having met with members of Hamas,” Malley, a former Clinton administration Middle East peace negotiator said in a statement Tuesday. “The story was ludicrous on almost every count.
“I have never been an adviser to the campaign, as both they and I made clear from the outset; instead, like hundreds of others, I informally offer my analysis which candidates and their actual advisers are free to consider or ignore. Nor did I ‘disclose’ anything; I have never hidden the fact that, on occasion, I had meetings with Hamas. I do this as part of my job as Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group and have referred to these encounters repeatedly in numerous published articles and media interviews.”
Right-wing critics of Obama, the Illinois U.S. senator and front-runner in the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee, continue to insist that Malley advises Obama despite repeated denials from both camps.
It is also true that Malley has never made a secret of his contacts with Hamas officials.
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