White House official fired over anonymous tweets <http://www.reuters.com/> Description: Reuters
By Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior White House official who was helping
negotiate nuclear issues with Iran has been fired after being unmasked as
the acidic voice behind a Twitter account known for its insults of public
figures at the White House and on Capitol Hill, a government official said
on Tuesday.
Jofi Joseph was director of nuclear non-proliferation on the White House
National Security Council staff, but for more than two years sent hundreds
of anonymous and abrasive tweets using the handle @NatSecWonk.
He was fired last week after he was caught, the official said.
A White House official confirmed Joseph no longer worked there, but would
not comment on personnel matters. The firing was first reported by the
website Daily Beast.
In his Twitter biography, now removed from the social networking site,
Joseph described himself as a "keen observer of the foreign policy and
national security scene" who "unapologetically says what everyone else only
thinks."
As the widely followed @NatSecWonk, Joseph speculated anonymously about the
political motives and career moves of administration officials he worked
with. They included Ben Rhodes, President Barack Obama's spokesman on
national security issues.
This month, Joseph tweeted that Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of
state, "had few policy goals and no wins" in the Middle East. He agreed with
Republican Representative Darrell Issa, who has relentlessly pursued Clinton
for administration actions after last year's attack on the U.S. diplomatic
post in Benghazi, Libya.
"Look, Issa is an ass, but he's on to something here with the
@HillaryClinton whitewash of accountability for Benghazi," he tweeted.
He also sniped at U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power's use
of Twitter. "Can someone again brief @AmbassadorPower that Bashar Assad
likely doesn't follow her Twitter feed?" he recently wrote.
Joseph did not respond to phone and email requests for comment, but he told
the website Politico he regretted his tweets.
"What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over
time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear
complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to
everyone I insulted," Joseph said in an email to Politico.
He also targeted journalists, including Daily Beast reporter Josh Rogin who
broke the story of his firing. "Just a hunch, but I have the sense lots of
people would like to punch @joshrogin in the face," he said earlier this
month.
(Fixes Twitter links)
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; editing by Christopher
Wilson)
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
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