State Department Spokesman to Reporter: F.U.
Phillippe Reines/Politico
The State Department and BuzzFeed have had a rather undiplomatic exchange of views.
That is, if you consider dropping an F-bomb and calling someone an A-hole outside the usual discourse for a top government spokesman, especially by e-mail.
Hillary Clinton’s longtime spokesman and defender, Phillippe Reines, unloads on reporter Michael Hastings, who asked about Reines’ denunciation of CNN for using the journal of the murdered ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, in its reporting (initially without saying so, out of respect for the family). Hastings was highly critical (you can read the whole thing here), and then things get out of hand.
On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 12:45 PM, Reines, Philippe I wrote:
Why do you bother to ask questions you’ve already decided you know the answers to?
______________________________________
From: Michael Hastings
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 12:50 PM
To: Reines, Philippe I
Cc: Nuland, Victoria J
Subject: Re: Request for comment
Why don’t you give answers that aren’t bullshit for a change?
______________________________________
On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 1:38 PM, Reines, Philippe I wrote:
I now understand why the official investigation by the Department of the Defense as reported by The Army Times The Washington Post concluded beyond a doubt that you’re an unmitigated asshole.
How’s that for a non-bullshit response?
Now that we’ve gotten that out of our systems, have a good day.
And by good day, I mean Fuck Off
______________________________________
From: Michael Hastings
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 01:40 PM
To: Reines, Philippe I
Cc: Nuland, Victoria J
Subject: Re: Request for comment
Hah–I now understand what women say about you, too! Any new complaints against you lately?
______________________________________
On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 1:48 PM, Reines, Philippe I wrote:
Talk about bullshit – answer me this: Do you only traffic in lies, or are you on the ground floor of creating them?
And since Fuck Off wasn’t clear enough, I’m done with you. Inside of 5 minutes when I can log into my desktop, you’ll be designated as Junk Mail.
Have a good life Michael.
______________________________________
From: Michael Hastings
Date: Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 1:50 PM
Subject: Re: Request for comment
To: “Reines, Philippe I”
Cc: “Nuland, Victoria J”
I’ll take that as a non-denial denial.
All the best,
Michael
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