“We can only conclude that the State Department is retaliating against National Public Radio as a result of this exchange,” Tandon said in a statement on Monday. Shaun Tandon, the president of the State Department Correspondents’ Association, said Monday that Michele Kelemen , NPR’s diplomatic correspondent, had been barred from the trip, which will see the secretary travel to Britain, Ukraine, Belarus and Central Asia. The State Department removed an NPR reporter from the press corps that will travel to Europe and Asia with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later this week, just days after he angrily confronted one of the news organization’s journalists for asking questions about Ukraine. The State Department removed NPR reporter Michele Kelemen from the press pool on ⁦ @SecPompeo ⁩ trip this week to Europe and Central Asia following his dustup w ⁦ @NPRKelly ⁩. Read statement by ⁦ @shauntandon ⁩, State Department Correspondents' Association president: pic.twitter.com/XksXaInNCJThe State Department did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Source: Huffington Post January 28, 2020 01:30 UTC