Senate Dems Slam Pompeo's "Insulting & Contemptuous" Comments About NPR Reporter
A group of five Senate Democrats - including one who was nearly jailed for corruption - have written a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemning his "insulting and contemptuous" off-the-record comments to NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly.
Kelly broke the story on Friday after she decided to ignore her commitment to keeping Pompeo's comments off the record because he was mean to her. On her podcast and radio program, she shared the recorded interview with Pompeo, as well as her account of their post-interview off-the-record meeting, where purportedly swore at her for asking questions about his handling of the Ukraine situation when the interview was supposed to be about Iran. At one point, Pompeo had an aide confront Kelly with a blank map and ask her to correctly identify Ukraine. She claims she identified it correctly, while Pompeo claims she pointed to Bangladesh.
Sen. Bob Menendez
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, whose initial corruption trial in late 2017 was deadlocked after a jury couldn't reach a verdict, prompting the DoJ to drop its prosecution, tweeted a copy of the mercifully brief letter Saturday afternoon.
At a time when journalists around the world are being jailed for their reporting, Sec Pompeo’s insulting and contemptuous comments to NPR’s @NPRKelly are beneath the office of the Secretary of State.
— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) January 25, 2020
Read our letter 👇 pic.twitter.com/x3qaRrUXTM
Not only did they condemn Pompeo's initial alleged conduct, they also expressed "profound disappointment and concern" over the "irresponsible" statement issued by the State Department refuting Kelly's claims. They even went so far as to bring up Jamal Khashoggi, and by doing so, implicitly compared the Trump Administration to the Saudi regime regarding its treatment of the press.
Aside from Menendez, the letter was also signed by Sens. Tim Kaine, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Cory Booker.
While it's true that journalists are routinely jailed and killed around the world for their reporting, it's also true that journalist murders are virtually nonexistent in the US.
That is, unless you believe the 'conspiracy theories' about Michael Hastings.
The most high-profile killing of an American journalist happened when a former news station employee shot her on camera as an act of deranged vengeance for perceived slights.
But sure, Pompeo's decision to drop a couple of f-bombs in front of a female reporter is absolutely tantamount to the vicious slaying of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudis consulate in Istanbul. Sounds reasonable to us.
https://ift.tt/2RwZ3Bv
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2RwZ3Bv
via IFTTT
0 comments
Post a Comment