NPR, federal watchdog demand answers on Pompeo's evident retaliation over testy NPR interview

Mike Pompeo
(Image credit: Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump may think it amusing and laudatory that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo berated and cursed out NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly last week after she asked him tough questions about Ukraine and whether he supports his diplomats, but NPR isn't laughing at Pompeo's behavior.

The State Department informed NPR diplomatic correspondent Michele Keleman on Sunday, without explanation, that she will no longer be traveling with Pompeo on this week's trip to Britain, Ukraine, and Central Asia. NPR CEO John Lansing demanded an explanation Tuesday and told the State Department if NPR doesn't get satisfactory answers by Wednesday, when Pompeo is scheduled to depart, NPR "will have no choice but to conclude that Ms. Kelemen was removed from the trip in retaliation for the content of NPR's reporting."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.