Brett McGurk has withdrawn his candidacy to be U.S. ambassador to Iraq, the Obama administration said.

McGurk’s nomination by President Barack Obama had been challenged by six Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who cited the release of documents they said showed “unprofessional conduct” and “poor judgment.” E-mails that became public after McGurk was nominated concerned his relationship with a Wall Street Journal reporter in Iraq in 2008, during President George W. Bush’s administration

“While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy, there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country,” Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, said today in an e-mailed statement.

The Wall Street Journal said last week that the reporter, Gina Chon, resigned because she violated its code of conduct by “sharing certain unpublished news articles” with McGurk when he was based in Iraq with the U.S. National Security Council. The action followed what the newspaper has called “the emergence of romantic e-mails” between the couple, who are now married.

Chon said in a message to friends that “while I worked in Iraq for the paper, Brett never gave me classified information, nor did he trade his knowledge for my affection,” the Washington Post reported June 16. Chon said her e-mail exchanges with McGurk were no more than “flirtatious banter” and that the e-mails were leaked by a “disgruntled” State Department employee. 


‘Serve Ably’

White House spokesman Jay Carney said as recently as last week that Obama “supports his nomination. He put him forward. He has a great deal of experience in Iraq not just in this administration but in the prior administration, and thinks he will serve ably as ambassador.”

Carney declined at the time to comment on the release of the e-mails and whether they reflected a lack of professionalism, referring questions to the State Department. “I can tell you that the president put forward this nominee because he is qualified for the job and will serve ably when he’s confirmed,” Carney said.

The White House declined to release McGurk’s letter of resignation. (Bloomberg)



<관련 한글 기사>


한국계 ‘여기자 스캔들’ 美대사지명자 결국

‘여기자 스캔들’로 논란을 빚은 브렛 맥거크 주(駐) 이라크 미국 대사 지명자가 18일(현지시간) 사임했다.

맥거크는 2008년 국가안보회의(NSC) 소속으로 이라크에서 근무하던 중 월스트리트저널(WSJ)의 한국계 여기자인 지나 천과 사귀었고 이후 결혼했으나, 당시 취재원과 기자 사이인 동시에 유부남과 유부녀였다는 점이 논란이 됐다.

버락 오바마 대통령은 임명을 강행하겠다는 방침을 밝혔지만, 공화당은 ‘부적절한 관계’라며 대통령에게 서한을 보내는 등 지명 철회를 압박했다.

백악관은 그의 사임에 유감을 표명했고, NSC는 대변인 성명에서 “브렛의 대사직 철회가 안타깝기는 하지만 그가 다시 국가를 위해 봉직할 것”이라고 밝혔다. (연합뉴스)