Hostile Questioner Disconnected on McCain Call
EL PASO, Tex. -- A McCain campaign conference call went bad this afternoon when Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency aggressively pressed former New
Jul 31, 2020469 Shares156.3K Views
EL PASO, Tex. — A McCain campaign conference call went bad this afternoon when Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency aggressively pressed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and McCain senior foreign-policy adviser Randy Scheunemann on their lobbying activities. The call was supposed to focus on a New York Sun reportthat Daniel Kurtzer, a foreign-policy adviser to Sen. Barack Obama and former U.S. ambassador to Israel, recently met in Damascus with representatives of the Syrian government. After asking Giuliani about his work on behalf Citgo, a Venezuelan-owned oil company incorporated in the United States, Kampeas started to challenge Scheunemann on his ties to the Georgian government, before his line mysteriously went dead. Here’s a transcript of the exchange:
“„Kampeas: There’s kind of an imbalance here. I read the New York Sun article. I read the New York Sun article. It looks like Kurtzer, who is an adviser to Sen. Obama…He’s a lawyer. he’s a member of the ABA. Mayor Giuliani, you’ve represented Citgo in dealings [with] the Chavez government. You have representations with the Saudis –
“„Giuliani: Actually. actually I don’t have any representations with the Saudis. That’s incorrect. I’ve never represented Citgo in negotiations with the Chavez government. So, those are both factually inaccurate.
“„Kampeas: Bloomberg reported that your law firm lobbied for Hugo Chavez at Citgo. That’s not correct?
“„Giuliani: It’s not correct that I had negotiations with Chavez’s government. It is correct that my law firm, for many, many years — doesn’t any longer — represented Citgo, an American corporation. But nothing to do with Chavez. Nothing to do with Chavez.
“„Kampeas: And you never represented Saudi Arabia’s Oil Ministry in a Texas court case?
“„Giuliani: I’ve never represented Saudi Arabia. Never been to Saudi Arabia.
“„Kampeas: Randy, you’re a paid lobbyist for the Georgians. You know, Daniel Kurtzer, you’re making an issue of him taking a paid hotel room in — [Giuliani breaks in, thinking Kampeas is talking to him] — it sounds to me like Kurtzer’s a little bit inept here, in terms of realizing how this could be perc — DEAD AIR
Afterwards, Giuliani and Scheunemann went on to take a few more questions. Whether someone at the McCain campaign intentionally disconnected Kampeas is probably unknowable, but the timing was sure convenient.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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