‘Disturbing’: CNN’s Stelter and New Yorker’s Rohde Condemn Trump For Not Protecting NYT Reporter in Egypt

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger made a stunning revelation yesterday about the Trump administration’s response (or lack thereof) when Times reporter Declan Walsh was about to be arrested in Egypt:

Two years ago, we got a call from a United States government official warning us of the imminent arrest of a New York Times reporter based in Egypt named Declan Walsh. Though the news was alarming, the call was actually fairly standard. Over the years, we’ve received countless such warnings from American diplomats, military leaders and national security officials.

But this particular call took a surprising and distressing turn. We learned the official was passing along this warning without the knowledge or permission of the Trump administration. Rather than trying to stop the Egyptian government or assist the reporter, the official believed, the Trump administration intended to sit on the information and let the arrest be carried out. The official feared being punished for even alerting us to the danger.

This afternoon, CNN’s Brianna Keilar talked about the stunning news with Brian Stelter and The New Yorker’s David Rohde, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008 and escaped the following year.

Stelter called it “deeply disturbing” that the Trump administration wouldn’t do everything they could to help out journalists in danger.

Rohde said the Bush administration “did everything they could to bring me home” and passed the baton to the Obama administration to continue those efforts.

Regarding Sulzberger’s remarks, Rohde said it’s “retaliation for reporting” and that “if you don’t write favorable stories about this administration, they’re not going to help your journalists when they are kidnapped by terrorists.”

You can watch above, via CNN.