NPR Reporter Blocked From Pompeo Trip

Kelly and Pompeo

The State Department has blocked an NPR reporter from taking a scheduled trip with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in apparent retaliation for the public radio station's handling of an explosive interview conducted with Pompeo on Friday.

USAToday reports the move ratchets up Pompeo's public fight with the news outlet – and with the media more broadly – amid growing scrutiny of Pompeo's role in President Donald Trump's Ukraine pressure campaign. The decision drew immediate rebuke from those who said it sent the wrong message about America's commitment to freedom of the press.

Michele Kelemen

"It’s difficult to see this move as anything other than petty & retaliatory," tweeted John Kirby, a  retired rear admiral in the Navy who served as a State Department spokesman in the Obama administration. He called the move "short-sighted, self-defeating, small-minded," adding it was "beneath the office" of America's chief diplomat.

The move to bar Michele Kelemen, NPR's diplomatic reporter, from Pompeo's flight to Ukraine and several other countries, came after NPR host Mary Louise Kelly conducted a contentious interview with Pompeo on Friday. Pompeo grew extremely irritated by Kelly's questions about Ukraine, as evidenced in his tone and answers.

After the interview, Kelly said she was invited to Pompeo's private living room, where he shouted and cursed at her.