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The U.S. State Department removed a National Public Radio reporter from the press pool for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming foreign trip, days after Pompeo angrily responded to another NPR journalist's interview with him.
The State Department Correspondents' Association (SDCA), the association that represents correspondents covering the State Department, said on Monday that Pompeo had removed NPR's Michele Kelemen, who has covered the State Department for two decades, from his trip which begins Wednesday in Britain. He will also visit Ukraine, Belarus, and Central Asia.
"We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio" as a result of Pompeo's exchange with the another NPR journalist, the SDCA said, protesting the decision.
"The State Department press corps has a long tradition of accompanying secretaries of state on their travels and we find it unacceptable to punish an individual member of our association," Shaun Tandon, the head of the SDCA, said in a statement.
Pompeo was interviewed on Friday by NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly, and was asked about Ukraine and ousted U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch during a testy nine-minute exchange.
Yovanovitch's removal was a key event in the actions that prompted the impeachment of President Donald Trump by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives last month.
Following the interview, Kelly said Pompeo cursed at her and repeatedly "used the F-word" and asked her: "Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?"
Mary Louise Kelly accepts the award for best reporter/correspondent/host - non-commercial for "All Things Considered" on "NPR News" at the 43rd annual Gracie Awards in Beverly Hills, California, May 22, 2018. /AP Photo
In a statement on Saturday, Pompeo said the reporter had lied in setting up the interview and in agreeing to conduct the post-interview conversation off the record.
Kelly said she was not told the conversation would be off the record, nor would she have agreed to those terms if she were asked. She also said Pompeo's staff were aware she'd ask about both Iran and Ukraine.
On Monday, NPR confirmed the removal of Kelemen and said she was informed that she would not be traveling but she was not given a reason why.
"We respectfully ask the State Department to reconsider and allow Michele to travel on the plane for this trip," Tandon said.
Pompeo, who is due to make an official visit to Ukraine starting on Thursday, will be the most senior U.S. official to travel to that country since the impeachment process began.
His relationship with the press has been tense since his first months in the job, but it has deteriorated since the impeachment inquiry as Pompeo, a former U.S. congressman, expressed dismay over reporters' insistence to ask about Ukraine.
(CGTN)
