Pompeo Attempts To Stick Up Reporter, Winds Up Shooting Himself In The D*ck

Ladies and gentlemen, your Trump administration.

Breaking! Achtung! Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a hot sack of garbage! Okay, that's not really news. But really, this weekend Pompeo has outdone himself.

It started yesterday when NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, who has been a national security reporter for 20 years, sat down for an interview with Pompeo at the State Department. The Secretary blurped nonsense for several minutes about how the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, which caused Iran to restart its uranium enrichment program, is actually a sign of Trump's rousing success in stopping that country from getting nukes.

KELLY: My question, again: How do you stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We'll stop them.

KELLY: How?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We'll stop them.

KELLY: Sanctions?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We'll stop them. The president made very clear – the opening sentence in his remarks said that we will never permit Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The coalition that we've built out, the economic, military, and diplomatic deterrence that we have put in place will deliver that outcome. It's important, because this will protect the American people.

 Riiiiiiight. 

Please note how Kelly does not just transcribe what Pompeo says and move on. Which may explain his ... displeasure at what happened next.

Mike Pompeo — who refused a House subpoena — would be a top witness for Democrats in the impeachment trial. He is… https: //t.co/GwPBJIA2rI

— Morning Edition (@Morning Edition) 1579883537.0 

KELLY: Change of subject: Ukraine. Do you owe Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch an apology?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I agreed to come onto your show today to talk about Iran. That's what I intend to do. I know what our Ukraine policy has been now for the three years of this administration. I'm proud of the work we've done. This administration delivered the capability for the Ukrainians to defend themselves. President Obama showed up with MREs; we showed up with Javelin missiles. The previous administration did nothing to take down corruption in Ukraine. We're working hard on that. We're going to continue to do it. I just don't have —

KELLY: I confirmed with your staff last night that I would talk about Iran and Ukraine.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I just don't have anything else to say about that this morning.

And she kept at it, demanding to know what he'd done to protect Marie Yovanovitch from the rightwing smear campaign that eventually got her fired.

KELLY: Sir, respectfully, where have you defended Marie Yovanovitch?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I've defended every single person on this team. I've done what's right for every single person on this team.

KELLY: Can you point me toward your remarks where you have defended Marie Yovanovitch?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I've said all I'm going to say today. Thank you. Thanks for the repeated opportunity to do so; I appreciate that.

KELLY: One further question on this.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I'm not going to – I appreciate that, I appreciate wanting to continue to talk about this. I agreed to come on your show today to talk about Iran.

Spoiler Alert:  No he didn't . And if Mike Pompeo's staff can't prep him for an interview, he should at least be able to conduct himself in a professional manner and deflect without losing his shit. But he wasn't ... at all. NBC reports:

She said Pompeo then glared at her and left the room with his aides.

An aide soon returned to the interview room and took her to Pompeo's private living room where he screamed and cursed at her, she said.

"He was not happy to have been questioned about Ukraine. He asked, 'Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?' He used the F word in that sentence, and many others," she said.

"He asked if I could find Ukraine on a map I said, 'Yes,' he called out for his aides to bring him a map of the world with no writing, no countries marked. I pointed to Ukraine; he put the map away; he said, people will hear about this, and then he turned and said he had things to do, and I thanked him again for his time and left."

Well, he was right about one thing -- people sure as hell did hear about it. Every reporter in DC hopped on Twitter to call him a dick.

Mary Louise Kelly is a true pro. Congratulations to her for doing her job and keeping her cool. https: //t.co/DzQmaR2YA8

— Jane Mayer (@Jane Mayer) 1579907265.0 

In a credibility contest between @NPRKelly and any power-seeking politician, mark me down for Mary Louise Kelly eve… https: //t.co/XOVw7GTpXH

— Peter Baker (@Peter Baker) 1579971013.0 

"Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?" is an interesting thing for Mike Pompeo to tell a reporter shortly before he visits Ukraine.

— Chris Megerian (@Chris Megerian) 1579907258.0 

But instead of shutting the hell up already, Pompeo went one further. Here's his official response , with his name on it, issued this morning.

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.

Oh, please. Mary Louise Kelly isn't some sophomore from the East Asscrack High School paper. She's a highly accomplished foreign policy reporter with a master's degree from Cambridge University in European studies. She didn't lie, and she sure as shit knows the difference between Europe and Asia. Get outta here with that noise.

Needless to say, this blatant lie  did not go over  with the DC press corps.

Not OTR---Ms. Kelly said that when Mr. Pompeo’s aide had summoned her to the room, the aide never asked that the me… https: //t.co/VjsC8bruyf

— Mara Liasson (@Mara Liasson) 1579971861.0 

NPR released a statement saying , "Mary Louise Kelly has always conducted herself with the utmost integrity, and we stand behind this report." So now we'll all have to decide if we believe an administration that lies all the time, every single day, or a highly credentialed professional with a sterling reputation. It's a tough one!

For the record when I was in government I dealt with Mary Louise Kelly@NPRKelly a fair bit. I found her to be a r… https: //t.co/mOGZuhs20r

— Gen Michael Hayden (@Gen Michael Hayden) 1579979222.0 

At the end of the day, Secretary Pompeo has still said not one single word in defense of Marie Yovanovitch. He's bullied a female reporter ( again ), and tried to get her alone with him in his private rooms. And when she reported his wildly inappropriate behavior, he made up an easily disprovable lie. Because this entire administration is abusive FILTH.

[ State Dept Transcript / NBC / State Dept Response ]

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