Alex Christoforou
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
We must admit he has a point…
Update (1650ET): The State Department has issued a statement about the Kelly interview and her complaints about Secretary Pompeo’s behavior.
Not only did Pompeo accuse Kelly of lying to him (twice), including by violating an agreement to keep his comments off the record, Pompeo also insisted that Kelly didn’t correctly Ukraine on a blank map brought out by a staffer.
“NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly lied to me, twice. First, last month, in setting up our interview and, then again yesterday, in agreeing to have our post-interview conversation off the record. It is shameful that this reporter chose to violate the basic rules of journalism and decency. This is another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration. It is no wonder that the American people distrust many in the media when they so consistently demonstrate their agenda and their absence of integrity.”
“It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine.”
Kelly insists that she had every right to break the agreement because Pompeo verbally abused her. But that doesn’t quite comport with our understanding of journalistic ethics. As far as we see it, a reporter is only allowed to break the off-the-record agreement if the information becomes public otherwise, or if the source was lying to them, or acting in bad faith.
There are reporters who honor these agreements even to the point of being imprisoned. Are we supposed to believe that a few f-bombs should invalidate it?
* * *
Democrats’ impeachment proceedings were completely overshadowed this week by the panic over the Wuhan coronavirus. Still, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is clearly tired of having his character repeatedly impugned by the Dems and the press claiming he hung one of his ambassadors out to dry after she purportedly resisted the administration’s attempts to pressure Ukraine.
That frustration came to a head this week when, during a moment of pique, Secretary Pompeo launched into a rant and swore at NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly after she wheedled him about whether he had taken concrete steps to protect former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
House Democrats last week released a trove of messages between Giuliani associate Lev Parnas and Connecticut Republican Congressional candidate Robert Hyde. The messages suggested that Yovanovitch might have been under surveillance before President Trump recalled her to Washington. One of the messages seems to reference a shadowy character able to “help” with Yovanovitch for “a price.”
Kelly recounted the incident to her listeners (she is the host of “All Things Considered”) while
After Kelly asked Pompeo to specify exactly what he had done or said to defend Yovanovitch, whom Pompeo’s boss President Trump fired last year, Pompeo simply insisted that he had “done what’s right” with regard to Yovanovitch, while becoming visibly annoyed.
Once the interview was over, Pompeo glared at Kelly for a minute, then left the room, telling an aide to bring Kelly into another room at the State Department without her recorder, so they could have more privacy.
Once inside, Pompeo launched into what Kelly described as an “expletive-laden rant”, repeatedly using the “f-word.” Pompeo complained about the questions about Ukraine, arguing that the interview was supposed to be about Iran.
“Do you think Americans give a f–k about Ukraine?” Pompeo allegedly said.
The outburst was followed by a ridiculous stunt: one of Pompeo’s staffers pulled out a blank map and asked the reporter to identify Ukraine, which she did.
“People will hear about this,” Pompeo vaguely warned.
Ironically, Pompeo is planning to travel to Kiev this week.
The questions came after Michael McKinley, a former senior adviser to Pompeo, told Congress that he resigned after the secretary apparently ignored his pleas for the department to show some support for Yovanovitch.
Listen to the interview here. A transcript can be found here.
Last we checked, the team at NPR is waiting on Pompeo to apologize
We suspect they might be waiting a while…
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Speaking of decency Pompous-peo you evil koont!
Interesting how such headlines invoke a spontaneous visceral reaction in those with a true understanding of decency. (and I certainly don’t mean to imply that it applies to NPR). Even a broken clock like Pompeo is right twice a day, after all.
No. The Pompeo Clock is infamous for never for being correct, even twice a day. It shifts…
Must be that ‘stable genius’ at work behind the curtain. LOL
Pompeo pontificating about ‘decency’?
He had to resort to an ancient dictionary before becoming infuriated.
….and even then, he confused decency with morally decrepit.
I wonder if Yovanovitch hosting tea parties with Parubiy and other associated neo-nazis had anything to do with it.
Nah. Just wishful thinking, I guess. Just another battle between liars. (the dismal state of American politics: pick your liar).
Not unlike the battle between Bezos and MBS. Two birds of a feather!
The BBC just discovered one American neo-nazi living in Russia but is still looking for 100,000 neo-nazis living in Ukraine. They say, any day now they’re bound to find one.
And you Brits are still bound by law to pay for that British bullshit channel? What suckers.
And what about the CBC? Canada hosts the most Ukrainian neonazi ratliners this side of Lwów.
How interesting that Pompeo would assume that Americans don’t “give a f–k about Ukraine.” After all, the entire impeachment charade is over Ukraine; the presumed Dem nominee, Biden, is neck-deep in corruption over Ukraine; the US base of hostility towards Russia is Ukraine; and our president is sending weapons to fascist Ukraine so it can hype up hostilities with Russia. And Americans aren’t supposed to “give a f–k about Ukraine”? That’s how these arrogant power brokers operate — they feel safer behind the curtain, in the dark, like the vampires they are.
Not interested in defending Pompeo whatsoever, but his comment that Americans don’t “give a f–k about Ukraine” was simply implying that they couldn’t possibly care about what had REALLY been going on in Ukraine — especially since there were enough wonderful NPR reporters all too willing to spout disinfo they were given to report. NPR was just another controlled outlet whose staff covered up the shenanigans the Obama administration was carrying out as part of its regime change in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing corruption there involving the Bidens, Pelosi, Kerry, Brennan, McCain, Graham et al.
They lost interest when Russia stepped in and took the Crimea with the peoples vote,now if Russia had failed to step in the U.S. would already have a base there and Trump would be using it as a club on Russia.Now neither party hands are clean in this matter we just don’t have all the information yet as the medias puts forth propaganda put out by both party’s,or what ever the C.I.A. hands them.!!!
Exactly. When the US failed to take Crimea, it just went into spoiled brat revenge mode. Hell of a way to run a foreign policy.
Didn’t Bezos or some other neoconniving oligarch buy NPR? They certainly act like he did.
We lie we steal we kill and Pompeo complains about someone else.!!
American exceptionalism at work again.
Pompeo and Decency cannot appear in the same sentence. It is a rule of language.
Pompeo’s grandma once called him an immorale disgraziato, if that’s any clue.
Pompeo and NPR….two spiders in a jar.