Obama & Robert Malley

“Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future.”
Obama spokesman, Ben LaBolt in May of 2008, after Robert Malley, a Middle East policy adviser to Obama, disclosed that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.

"Aides said President-elect Obama had sent senior foreign policy adviser Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria to outline the Democratic candidate's policy on the Middle East. The aides said Malley... relayed a pledge from Obama that the United States would seek to reconcile with Damascus... regarded by the Bush administration as a leading supporter of the Al Qaida insurgency in Iraq...."
World Tribune - November 5, 2008