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Punish Trump officials for bias against staffer of Iranian heritage - State Dept. watchdog
Related: Trump aides retaliated against State staffer of Iranian descent, probe finds (Politico)
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Source: The Guardian
Punish Trump officials for bias against staffer of Iranian heritage – watchdog
Inspector general recommends disciplinary action for Brian Hook and others, in latest scandal to roil US state department
Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 14 Nov 2019 22.00 GMT
First published on Thu 14 Nov 2019 20.33 GMT
The state department’s watchdog has recommended senior Trump officials, including the administration’s Iran envoy, be disciplined for discrimination against a career civil servant, in part because of her Iranian ethnicity and the fact that she had served under the Obama administration.
The inspector general’s report, which strongly criticised Brian Hook, who has led the US campaign to isolate Iran, is one of a series of scandals at the state department contributing to a growing crisis of confidence among the country’s diplomats.
-snip-
In his report, details of which were first reported by Politico, the state department’s inspector general, Steve Linick, published correspondence and testimony between Hook and other political appointees on removing Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, a civil servant of Iranian descent, from the high-profile policy planning office run by Hook.
Top aides to the then secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, circulated a rightwing magazine story that portrayed Nowrouzzadeh as a diehard Obama loyalist who was obstructing the new administration’s policies.
One of those officials, Julia Haller, who was acting White House liaison officer, noted in an email that Nowrouzzadeh “was born in Iran and upon my understanding cried when the president won” and argued it would be easy to get her suspended. Nowrouzzadeh was born in the US, and when asked for her reason to believe she had cried, Haller cited “office gossip”, but said she passed it on because “it could raise a question of “loyalty to the United States”.
-snip-
Inspector general recommends disciplinary action for Brian Hook and others, in latest scandal to roil US state department
Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 14 Nov 2019 22.00 GMT
First published on Thu 14 Nov 2019 20.33 GMT
The state department’s watchdog has recommended senior Trump officials, including the administration’s Iran envoy, be disciplined for discrimination against a career civil servant, in part because of her Iranian ethnicity and the fact that she had served under the Obama administration.
The inspector general’s report, which strongly criticised Brian Hook, who has led the US campaign to isolate Iran, is one of a series of scandals at the state department contributing to a growing crisis of confidence among the country’s diplomats.
-snip-
In his report, details of which were first reported by Politico, the state department’s inspector general, Steve Linick, published correspondence and testimony between Hook and other political appointees on removing Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, a civil servant of Iranian descent, from the high-profile policy planning office run by Hook.
Top aides to the then secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, circulated a rightwing magazine story that portrayed Nowrouzzadeh as a diehard Obama loyalist who was obstructing the new administration’s policies.
One of those officials, Julia Haller, who was acting White House liaison officer, noted in an email that Nowrouzzadeh “was born in Iran and upon my understanding cried when the president won” and argued it would be easy to get her suspended. Nowrouzzadeh was born in the US, and when asked for her reason to believe she had cried, Haller cited “office gossip”, but said she passed it on because “it could raise a question of “loyalty to the United States”.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/14/state-department-brian-hook-watchdog-inspector-general