Behind closed doors, a conflict is brewing between Richard Grenell, the spokesperson for the U.S. mission, and some of the UN correspondents he rides herd on.
Press handlers are expected to be control freaks. But several sources in the UN press corps who spoke on condition of anonymity describe the U.S. spokesperson as "rude," "arrogant," and a "bully," neither popular nor a particularly good source. "He's unbearable," says one journalist. "Very pushy and very demanding," says another. Grenell is said to complain incessantly, hectoring correspondents and their bosses and trying to "mold" wire stories to fit his message. He yells at anyone whose slant doesn't follow his, says one source. "He yells at people whenever he is uncomfortable, particularly foreigners," says another.
Last week, on the day Powell emerged from a meeting with Kofi Annan, Grenell behaved characteristically, according to one source, openly telling Annan's spokesperson which journalists should be allowed to ask Annan questions and which should not. Grenell is said to be equally controlling of access to his boss, U.S. ambassador to the UN John Negroponte. In a well-publicized incident this past January, the press had gathered to interview diplomats, and the Mexican ambassador was taking too long at the microphone. Grenell began pressuring a UN staffer to give the mic to Negroponte, saying, "Who cares what Mexico has to say?" (At the time, Grenell denied making the remark, and still does, but Negroponte had to assure the Mexican diplomat that the U.S. does consider Mexico a "valuable partner," according to published reports.)
Critics judge Grenell not only by his manners, but also by the quality of his information. "You call him up, you ask a question. You expect him to go off the record, but he automatically goes into spin mode," one source explains. Another source claims Grenell will come out of meetings and misstate what one person says to another. Indeed, a July 4 New York Times correction, according to one correspondent, was the result of faulty information provided by Grenell. (The Times blamed the mistake, which involved conditions for U.S. intervention in Liberia, on "a U.S. diplomat's erroneous account.") The Times UN bureau chief did not return a call for comment.
Informed about the complaints from the press, Grenell said, "This past year has been a difficult time for the U.S. at the UN. I've been a passionate advocate for U.S. policy. Unfortunately, there are some who think I should apologize for that."
There is more to Grenell than meets the eye. His boss, Negroponte, is a hard-liner best known for his tenure as ambassador to Honduras in the early 1980s, when the U.S. launched a covert war on Nicaragua. Negroponte is also known for his cordial demeanor, however, and the rumor inside the UN is that Grenell was not the ambassador's choice but that of former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.
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