Democratic rationale for holding up a vote on the Trump administration’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, is news to the nominee himself, a source close to Grenell tells The Daily Caller.
The accusations surfaced publicly via CNN’s Jake Tapper who relayed alleged concerns from Democratic lawmakers on Thursday:
Senate Democrats say a number of their members have concerns about comments/Tweets of Grenell’s such as this one,, so there hasn’t been unanimous consent to move his nomination quickly. 3/https://t.co/h2BYzX4bLx
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 15, 2018
Dems point to multiple Grenell tweets extolling Wikileaks as the primary reason for their concern. 4/https://t.co/rWmUlnkUB0
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 15, 2018
The Democratic accusations come while the White House is making a concerted push to have the Senate confirm Grenell, a Harvard educated diplomat who served as a United Nations spokesman for the U.S. during the Bush administration.
Democratic lawmakers have stalled Grenell’s confirmation through a lengthier-than-usual procedural process.
“Senator Schumer’s hyper-political delay on Mr. Grenell puts our national security, and America’s foreign policy interests, in jeopardy, “White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday. “The Senate should move to confirm him immediately.”
A source close to Grenell told TheDC the accusations from Democratic lawmakers are “totally made up,” adding “The fact is this is a brand new anonymous charge from a clearly partisan person to a reporter. How are people supposed to confront attacks like this?”
Grenell noted that Tapper’s tweets are the first concerns he’s publicly heard throughout the entire process.
Fact: no one has ever said this to me ever. You are the first. https://t.co/AyW6n3Ib4m
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 15, 2018
TheDC’s source also pointed to his oft repeated advocacy on twitter to prosecute leakers of classified information.
Prosecute the leakers not the journalists @NickKristof: Obama has charged 7 w/ leaking secrets to press, vs 3 for all prior presidents
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 22, 2013
Prosecute the leakers. This partisanship permeating our intel agencies must stop.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 3, 2017
agree. But we must have fewer intel leaks. security first. Find the leakers & prosecute them. The media has a different agenda. https://t.co/iLvVsGQsDv
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 5, 2017
A Daily Caller review of Grenell’s tweets about Wikileaks revealed frustration with establishment media outlets for not reporting the content of emails deemed damaging for then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, rather than direct praise for the government transparency publisher.
These Wikileaks are unbelievable even for @HillaryClinton. She is totally corrupt in every way. WHERE ARE THE JOURNALISTS?
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 11, 2016
Read the twitter feed of @NBCNews “reporter” covering Hillary. The lack of Wikileaks coverage is beyond excusable > @albamonica
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 13, 2016
The DC media system is bankrupt. They defend the capital and the rules just like Hunger Games. #Wikileaks
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 11, 2016
Hillary isn’t commenting on Wikileaks. The DC media isn’t pushing. #BankruptSystem
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 27, 2016
“Not having a serving American ambassador under the American flag beside the Brandenburg Gate is not a good symbol for the deep friendship that we have with the United States,” a German lawmaker told Fox News in February.
