ICP
Asks UN About
Feltman and
Chagoury, When
UN Feltman Qs
UNanswered,
Saudi
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 11 --
After UN
official
Jeffrey
Feltman was
again in the
news for his
previous post
in the US
State
Department,
Inner City
Press on
August 11
asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Farhan Haq
about it, and
why Feltman
answers so few
Press
questions at
the UN. Beyond
the Vine here.From
the UN
Transcript:
Inner City
Press: Mr.
Jeffrey
Feltman, the
Under-Secretary-General
of Political
Affairs, is in
the news, has
referred to
e-mails that
were released
in which it
was said that
a billionaire,
Nigerian
Lebanese
businessman,
Mr. Gilbert
Chagoury, was…
at the time
that Mr.
Feltman was at
the State
Department was
referred to
speak to him
about matters
in
Lebanon.
And the reason
I'm asking you
is that Mr.
Feltman has
seen fit to…
to deny to CNN
that he, in
fact, ever
spoke to Mr.
Chagoury.
What I wanted
to know is,
was this
contact done
through his
DPA
(Department of
Political
Affairs)
Spokesman's
office?
And can we get
an answer from
Mr. Feltman
about the
number of
times he's
spoke with the
Foreign
Minister of
Saudi Arabia
during the
time frame
immediately
before Ban
Ki-moon
dropped Saudi
Arabia from
the Yemen
Children and
Armed
Conflicts
annex, since
this is his
current job?
Deputy
Spokesman:
We… first of
all, we don't
provide
details of all
the diplomatic
contacts our
diplomats
do. That
would impede
their
work.
Second of all,
Mr. Feltman
did convey to
us, including
to me as well
as others, the
information
that he did
not speak to
Mr. Chagoury,
and we've
passed that on
to reporters
as they asked.
Inner City
Press: I
guess what
would you say
to the fact
that a current
UN official
immediately
responds to a
question about
his previous
employment at
the State
Department but
has yet… has
not done a
stakeout in
front of the
Security
Council in I
don't know how
many
months?
And I'm asking
you… this is a
question I'd
like to try to
get an answer
from him, the
same way of
how many times
did he speak
with Mr.
Foreign
Minister
[Adel]
al-Jubeir of
Saudi
Arabia?
Just the
number.
Deputy
Spokesman:
On Foreign
Minister
al-Jubeir,
when he has
met with the
Secretary-General,
we've provided
readouts.
We do not
provide lists
of all the
contacts that
our diplomats
have, since
that would
affect their
ability to go
about their
work.
Mr. Feltman
does actually
offer
information…
whenever there
are requests
for
information
about his
work, he
provides it
either through
us or through
his own
spokesperson.
Inner City
Press:
Will he be
willing to
similarly deny
contacts in
terms of his
UN work?
I'm just
wondering
about this…
the… I'm
comparing the
levels of
transparency.
You
immediately
responded on
one topic, and
I'd like to
ask you about
a topic about
his current
work.
Deputy
Spokesman:
You're
comparing
dissimilar
things.
You're
comparing
dissimilar
things.
Like I said,
his diplomatic
work, a lot of
it has to do
with how he
goes about
contacts with
different
people.
And it's up to
him to decide
how to engage
on that.
Back on
December 7,
2015, two days
after Inner
City Press
asked the UN
why its Under
Secretary
General for
Political
Affairs
Jeffrey
Feltman
forwarded
other UN
officials'
emails to his
former
colleagues at
the US State
Department
months after
he moved to
the UN, US
sources told
Inner City
Press Feltman
is slated to
head to
Washington on
December 8.
In
October in the
House Select
Committee on
the Events
Surrounding
the 2012
Terrorist
Attack in
Benghazi, it
was noted that
the Committee
had none of
Feltman's
emails. After
sources told
Inner City
Press Feltman
will appear
before the
Committee on
December 8,
Inner City
Press on
December 4
asked UN
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq to
confirm or
deny it. Video
here.
Haq
declined to
confirm,
telling Inner
City Press to
ask the US.
But what if
Feltman used
UN lawyers to
respond? And
as shown,
Feltman after
working at the
UN continued
to forward
emails,
including
other UN
officials'
emails, to the
US State
Department.
Inner
City Press on
December 7
asked the UN,
will Feltman
be under oath
on December 8?
From the UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press: I'd
asked you, I
guess, on
Friday about
Mr. [Jeffrey]
Feltman
testifying.
You said, ask
the US.
So I
have.
It's confirmed
and
formalized.
He will
testify on
Tuesday.
The one thing
I wanted to
ask you, which
I think only
the UN can
answer, is
whether he…
whether the
condition of
his testimony
is that he
will not take…
will he
testify under
oath, and how
does this
impinge on UN
immunity and
previous
precedence in
this?
Deputy
Spokesman:
As I
understand it,
these are for
actions that
precede his
work as an
Under-Secretary-General
and is part of
a separate and
prior
responsibility.
Inner City
Press:
But did he
use… did he
confer with
UNOLA [Office
of Legal
Affairs]?
That's why I
was asking on
Friday.
It seems like,
if UNOLA
lawyers are
involved in
responding to
the request
that he
testify,
obviously,
he's not
being… he's
being asked to
testify about
a previous
time, but
there is a UN
hook, and was
it negotiated
that he will
not take the
oath before
testifying?
Deputy
Spokesman:
I wouldn't
have any
comment on the
UN side.
Like I said,
this is
something that
precedes his
period with
the UN.
This
takes place
amid
unanswered
Press
questions
about
Feltman's and
Ban's
knowledge of
Bernardino
Leon, while UN
Envoy to
Libya,
negotiating a
$500,000 a
year job with
the United
Arab Emirates,
a player to
say the least
in Libya.
We'll have
more on this.
On
November 30
among the
5,109 Hillary
Clinton emails
released by
the US State
Department was
one
from October
2012 from
Jeffrey
Feltman,
then already
ostensibly
with and for
the UN, to
Jake Sullivan
about Lebanon.
Feltman
forwarded the
US State
Department a
copy of his
own email to
“his guy” in
Lebanon,
British UN
official Derek
Plumbly and
asks for US
advice on whom
he should
call.
Inner
City Press on
March 28, 2012
first
reported
that Feltman
would take
over UN
Department of
Political
Affairs from
fellow
American B.
Lynn Pascoe,
and asked if
it was wise,
to whom would
Feltman be
loyal. Now the
question
arises: why
was Feltman
still in
October 2012,
after starting
with the UN on
July 2, 2012,
forwarding his
emails to the
US State
Department?
On
December 1,
2014, Inner
City Press
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric,
transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: about
Mr. Feltman,
yesterday, as
happens
monthly, there
was a release
of… of e-mails
by the US
State
Department.
And without
getting into
all the… all
5,000 of the
e-mails, I
wanted to ask
about the ones
that involve
Mr. Feltman,
specifically
in the time
frame after he
left the State
Department and
came to the
UN. So,
there’s an
e-mail in 19
October
2012.
This is months
after he was
at the UN, in
which he
forwards to
Jake Sullivan
and others in
the State
Department his
communications
with Derek
Plumbly about
Lebanon.
And he says,
“Here’s my
communications
with my guy in
Lebanon”,
redacted,
redacted,
redacted,
“please tell
me what you
think and
advise.”
And I guess I
wanted to ask
you, is it…
what is the…
what’s the
protocol for a
former… of any
government,
not just the
US, for a UN
official to
share what are
presumably
confidential
UN
communications
with his
previous
employer, and
how would you…
how do you
respond to
this?
Spokesman:
I think the
way to look at
it is that, I
think, through
our mediation
efforts, UN
officials are
often in touch
with Foreign
Ministries or
permanent
missions and
share our
analysis.
And that’s
often how we
get our work
done.
I’m not going
to comment on
the exact… you
know, what
exactly was
said. I
haven’t seen
the
e-mail.
But I think
it’s… you
know, we have
contact, and
we share our
analysis with
members of the
Security
Council, with
permanent
missions and
Foreign
Ministries.
Inner City
Press:
My question is
one of the
e-mails… in
one of the
e-mails, Mr.
Feltman says,
I’ve tried to
send this
through
Hotmail, but
it didn’t
work, which to
me implies it
wasn’t
necessarily as
a UN
official.
Like, would
you say… in
what you’ve
described as
the protocol,
should this be
done very
clearly as a
UN official
seeking advice
from the…?
Spokesman:
As I said, I
think there is
nothing
untoward with
senior UN
officials who
we often… in
dealing with
mediation, we
need to
consult with
different
sides and
share analysis
and share
information.
Inner City
Press:
[Did he] share
with others,
other than the
US?
Spokesman:
I’ll leave it
at that.
On
October 20,
2012, the
State
Department's
Elizabeth
Dibble says
she spoke with
Feltman; in
September,
Feltman told
Huma Abedin
he's walk on
hot coals for
Hillary. He
offered to
cancel a
meeting with
Esther Brimmer
in order to
meet with
Hillary in the
Waldorf -- saying
he had
problems
responding
with hotmail,
that the 90s
may have
ended. He was
not
using his UN
email address.
We'l have more
on this.
Feltman
is cc-ed on a
"sensitive
but not
classified"
email
about February
2010 Egypt
being "amazed"
that Hillary
Clinton flew
over on the
way to Qatar
and Saudi
Arabia without
stopping.
Among
those few that
mention UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
August 26,
2010, Huma
Abedin wrote
to Hillary
Clinton that
"Ban ki-Moon
will formally
welcome NATO
logistical
support in
Pakistani
flood relief."
Back on
July 31 among
the 1,356
Hillary
Clinton emails
released by
the US State
Department on
July 31 are
only 14 which
mention Libya.
One is
a "Call
Sheet" for
Hillary
Clinton to
call Ban on
August 24,
2009, starting
"You are
calling UN
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon to
ask him to
co-host with
you an event
at UNGA to
advance the
Global
Partnership
for
Agriculture
and Food
Security."
There
are 16 emails
mentioning Sri
Lanka. One of
them also
mentions Ban,
whose record
on Sri Lanka
continues to
be questioned
today, but
most of which
are about responding
to the
Government of
Sri Lanka
complaining
about Hillary
Clinton
linking their
army to rape
in a September
30, 2009
speech. It is
"put to bed"
by a letter to
Sri Lanka's
then Foreign
Minister.
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