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 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 report that 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.
Comments:
Posted 08/20/2008 05:03pm with
Dear American Citizens and the media
Challenge to Media.
As a disabled American Veteran and concerned American citizen.
“We the citizens of the United States of America have the ultimate responsibility to elect the ” Right Candidate with the right temperament” to lead our nation’
Our nation is and will be facing many present and future critical internal and external challenges as well as opportunities to address those challenges.
In order to prevent any probable prolong recession and diminished world standing as the sole superpower in the world’ Whether it is the moral, democratic, economic, military, and other issues.
I impress upon voters to vote after considering following ” qualities and characteristics” of our presumptive presidential nominees.
In my firm professional opinion that the media should help the common voter to explore and discuss following attributes of Hon. Senator McCain and Obama:
1. Calm, cool, and collected ” temper ” [ Presidential Temperament ].
2. Sound and sustained “Judgment and Caliber”.
3. “Thought-fullness and togetherness” of purpose and positions.
4. Minimum “ex-poser and exploitation” around “Washington and Washington insiders”.
5. Renewed ” Vigor and Vision ” for our Great-grand Nation.
6. Foreign policy based on ” American Values, Virtuous, Vastness”.
7. The campaign based of facts and free of fiction, deception, seduction, and attacks.
I plead to common voter to stay informed, stay involved, and stay engaged.
Do not allow some partisan media, pundits, pollsters, and perpetual political opinion makers effect your vote in the wrong direction.
Please do not be deceived and duped by “Psychological Terrorism” that is being directed at you without your consent and awareness.
Long live U.S.A and its diverse but democratic people.
Col. A.M. Khajawall [Ret] MD., Colonel, USAR / MC Combat Stress Control[Ret], Disabled American Veteran and Iraq Freedom team.
PS: That is the way they are bent upon duping, deceiving, and depriving common American their future.