In yet another in an endless string of embarrassments for the U.S. State Department since Trump took over, his Secretary of State released this tersely worded statement today. Noticeable that Pompeo accused Kelly of lying about their interview being off-the-record, yet it's his pettiness and bullying that betrays his own lying. Kelly said neither Pompeo or his aides ever asked to be off the record. And secondly, his little dig about her not being able to identify Ukraine on a map, pointing to Bangladesh instead, was just another bald-faced lie from Pompeo. Mary Louise Kelly has a Master's degree in European Studies from Cambridge University.

Source: The Guardian

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo launched an extraordinary attack on a respected NPR journalist on Saturday, a day after reports emerged of him swearing at and trying to humiliate her by asking her to identify Ukraine on a map.

In a sharply-worded statement issued by the state department, Pompeo accused the reporter, Mary Louise Kelly, of lying to him and being part of an “unhinged” media conspiracy “in a quest to hurt President Trump and this administration”.

The bizarre final line of the brief statement – “It is worth noting that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine” – appears to suggest that Pompeo believes Kelly identified a different country when he asked her to point out Ukraine on an unmarked map produced by aides.

The claim contradicts the experienced foreign correspondent and radio host’s own recollection of the encounter, in which she said she had no trouble identifying Ukraine, after which Pompeo put the map away and insisted: “People will hear about this.”

Extraordinary. ⁦@SecPompeo⁩ follows up his ⁦@NPRKelly⁩ interview with a statement in which he appears to say she pointed to Bangladesh on a map instead of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/zFaFIkJCL9

— Philip Crowther (@PhilipinDC) January 25, 2020