Trump aides retaliated against State staffer of Iranian descent, probe finds

Amid the many email exchanges, including some that included Hook, the various officials questioned whether they could remove Nowrouzzadeh from Policy Planning, where she dealt with Middle East issues.

One official, Julia Haller, claimed falsely in an email that Nowrouzzadeh was born in Iran; she also alleged that Nowrouzzadeh had cried when Trump won the presidency.

Haller, who later joined the Department of Housing and Urban Development, told the inspector general’s office that she made the comment about Nowrouzzadeh’s national origin because she thought it could raise conflict of interest questions and that it might make her ineligible for a security clearance.

Haller said she’d likely heard the claim about Nowrouzzadeh’s reaction to Trump’s election via office gossip, but that she shared the information because it raised questions about Nowrouzzadeh’s “loyalty to the United States.”