President Obama stood by his nominee to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq, Brett McGurk, despite Republican calls that the nominee withdraw after emails surfaced last week revealing an affair between he and a Wall Street Journal reporter.
“The president has nominated Brett McGurk,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney maintained when asked if Obama intended to withdraw his nomination. “We look forward to the Senate’s advice and consent to his appointment.”
Recommended Stories
Emails exhcanged between McGurk and a Wall Street Journal reporter, whom he eventually married, suggest that he “conducted a lascivious extramarital affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter while the duo were stationed in Iraq,” the Washington Free Beacon reported last week. “The emails raise questions about the administration official’s fitness for the ambassadorship and whether he may have traded access to sensitive information for sexual favors.”
The reporter resigned from her job after the emails were made public.
Carney refused to discuss the sex scandal. “I don’t have anything more for you on that particular issue,” he told the White House press corps after saying “We believe that the United States will be greatly served by Mr. McGurk’s experience in Iraq, which is substantial.”
Six Republican senators asked President Obama to withdraw McGurk’s nomination.
