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Luc(as) de Groot in Berlin.

Sonja Knecht

On Thursday, Microsoft announced a change coming soon to some of its most visible software. It will choose a new default font for its Office applications, such as Word and Excel. And that means people will no longer be seeing so much of the font that's held the default spot since 2007 a sans-serif font called Calibri.

The change is another indication that this is not the old Microsoft. Since the measured Satya Nadella replaced the loud and proud Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014, Microsoft has become easier for partners to work with, has strategically embraced third-party platforms instead of stubbornly ignoring them, and has morphed into a formidable contender in the ever-expanding cloud computing business. Arguably a change to the look of Microsoft software is in order.

But Luc(as) de Groot, the Dutch type designer behind Calibri, was caught by surprise.

"I had not expected it to kind of be replaced already," he said during a video interview from his home in Berlin.

He did not expect to be consulted about the decision, and says he's glad Microsoft invests in new fonts to make its software more valuable. He figures the choice to change was more about keeping up with contemporary style trends than about improving the legibility of Calibri.

De Groot began working on Calibri all the way back in 2002. An intermediary had asked him to come up with a proposal for a monospace typeface for an unnamed client. He was not informed that the client had also sought proposals from other people. He was also asked to come up with a sans-serif font, and so he sent off some sketches for Calibri in addition to the monospace work.

The client turned out to be Microsoft, which accepted both of his proposals, and in 2003 de Groot traveled to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to meet with designers, advisors and members of the company's typography team.

At the meeting, de Groot said, he argued that the company should include old-style figures -- characters with varying heights -- to help with reading, and Microsoft employees agreed.

The five new fonts Microsoft commissioned are available in Word for Office 365 subscribers. The first paragraph of text is shown in Calibri, and the second paragraph appears in the new Seaford font.

Jordan Novet | CNBC

Coming up with the name was not easy. For both of his fonts, Microsoft wanted names that started with the letter C.

As de Groot put it in an email, "I had proposed Clas, a Scandinavian first name and associated with 'class,' but then the Greek advisor said it meant 'to fart' in Greek. Then I proposed Curva or Curvae, which I still like, but then the Cyrillic advisor said it meant 'prostitute' in Russian, it is indeed used as a very common curse word." Microsoft legal workers also checked each possible name to see if it had not already been trademarked.

The company came up with the name "Calibri," and when de Groot first heard it, he found it odd. It was similar to Colibri, a genus of hummingbirds. But then Microsoft employees said that it related to the calibrating the rasterizer in the company's ClearType font rendering system.

Once he sent over Calibri, he didn't know how it would be used. At first he heard it would be included in a programming environment. It wasn't until a few years later that he learned it would become the default in Office, which has 1.2 billion users. By default, Calibri worked with lining figures with uniform characters, although users can enable old-style figures in Word.

Calibri came to millions of PCs with the release of Office 2007, succeeding the staid 20th-century serif font Times New Roman. Soon, it was everywhere. It became a popular choice for resums. It has been used to solve forgery cases, and in 2017 it figured in a Pakistani corruption probe ensnaring then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Former President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. used Calibri to release an email exchange about a meeting with a Russian lawyer to gather information on Hillary Clinton, who had run for president against Trump in 2016.

Over the years, de Groot has done additional work on Calibri. He came up with heavier weights, added support for Hebrew, and three years ago, he said, he submitted a prototype for a variable Calibri font, which includes several styles in a single font file, although Microsoft has not released it. He was working on Calibri updates as recently as two weeks ago.

Then he started receiving emails from journalists about the news: Microsoft's design team had published a blog post on Thursday revealing five fonts it had commissioned, one of which will eventually replace Calibri. Calibri, they wrote, "has served us all well, but we believe it's time to evolve."

De Groot couldn't help but have a look at the five fonts. He downloaded them to his PC and tested them out.

He said he was fond of Seaford, a font developed by Tobias Frere-Jones, Nina Stssinger and Fred Shallcrass of the New York studio Frere-Jones Type. "It has a very strong design, and I would love to see this as the new default," he said. "It's not absolutely neutral, but I think it's a very nice design."

WATCH: Microsoft Office 2016 'leapfrogging' Google: CMO

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Microsoft is rolling out a new default font to 1.2 billion Office users after 14 years and the designer of the old one is surprised - CNBC

Manu Raju at home in Chevy Chase, D.C., with his wife, Archana Mehta, and their 5-year-old twins. Photo by Michael Ventura

Just after 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, Manu Raju, CNNs chief congressional correspondent, was in his recording booth in the Senate press gallery when he heard a pounding on the door. The U.S. Capitol Police had come to evacuate Raju, his two producers, and the 18 or so other media people in the room and escort them to a more secure location in the building. A few hours earlier, Raju and the others had been ordered to stay in the gallery for their protection as insurgents stormed the halls of Congress. Raju couldnt see the rioters from his windowless booth. Instead, he was going on the air every few minutes with reports that he was receiving via texts from lawmakers and congressional aides on the House floor and in ransacked offices in the Capitol. Until he was being evacuated, he had no idea that rioters had been just down the hall from where he was broadcasting.

It was the first time that I fully got a sense of how much danger we were in. That entire third floor was trashed. There were hand sanitizer stands knocked over. Desks were knocked over. There was this slippery film on the ground and the railings, all this white film that had been the result of tear gas that had been shot all around the third floor, Raju says. The whole area smelled of smoke grenades. The reality was that none of us were secure, and we just didnt know that until later.

Since joining CNN in 2015, Raju has appeared on camera five days a week (often more), chasing lawmakers through the U.S. Capitol and around the country on campaign stops. In 2016 he traveled with Marco Rubio during the Florida senators presidential run. Its nonstop, Raju, 41, says. But thats what we signed up for.

A first-generation Indian American, Raju was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. His parents emigrated from India in the 1970s, and his father, a neonatologist, spent 30 years at the University of Illinois Hospital. His mom worked at a local library. In high school, Raju ran track and played on the football and basketball teams, and was president of his Hindu temple youth group. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison he majored in business administration but covered sports on the side for his college newspaper, The Badger Herald. He interned at two TV stations before deciding to forgo business and give reporting a shot. I started to enjoy it, I started to learn it. I was about to graduate, and I was thinking to myself, maybe I should try this journalism thing and see what happens, he says. The beauty of being a journalist is that you dont necessarily have to have a journalism degree.

Rajus parents moved to Gaithersburg during his senior year of college, when his dad took a position at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. After graduating in 2002, Raju moved in with them for a few months before landing a job covering environmental policy for Inside EPA, a website and weekly newsletter owned by Inside Washington Publishers. He joined the staff of Congressional Quarterly in 2004, then worked at The Hill for a couple of years before taking a job at Politico in 2008. He worked there for seven years until a job opened up at CNN covering Congress and the timing was right, he says.

Raju met his wife, Archana Mehta, in 2005 while living in Washington, and the couple eventually settled in Chevy Chase, D.C. A year and a half ago they moved to a larger house less than two blocks away to give their now 5-year-old twins more room to run around in. With the couples son and daughter mostly in Zoom school and Mehta, vice president of marketing and business strategy for Gaithersburg-based Recovery Point Systems, working from home, Raju says being on the Hill most days keeps him out of their hair.

In late February, on one of Rajus rare days off, Bethesda Magazine caught up with him on Zoom.

Was the insurrection at the U.S.Capitol the scariest story youve ever covered as a correspondent?

Ive gone to rowdy rallies and political eventsnothing even comes close to this. [CNN anchor] Jake Tapper said to me, I never thought [talking to] our Capitol Hill correspondents would be like talking to war correspondents. Thats what it felt like.

At what point did you realize this wasnt just a regular protest but an unprecedented situation?

The first scare we got was as the [election] certification was starting [about 1 p.m.]. We were getting reports from the Capitol Police about a potential bomb scarebut that does happen from time to time. At one point we were hearing from sources that things were getting pretty out of hand outside and that were on lockdown. That was a little nerve-racking. This was only the second time thats happened. Then we started hearing reports that the protesters have breached the barricade around the Capitol. But it was still not a real concern in my mind that they could actually get inside the Capitolits one of the most fortified buildings in the whole country. Then I got an email from the Capitol Police saying, internal security threatgo into your office, lock your doors and dont leave. That was a pretty alarming alert. The truth is, I didnt know the full extent of things until days later.

What was your wife doing while the insurgence was going on?

She was texting me a lot, nervous about what was going on. I was getting texts from family, a lot of friends, staffers, people I havent heard from in years, reaching out, saying, Are you all right? The good thing for my family was that I was on TV reporting, so that gave them some level of assurance.

What time did you get home that night?

I got home about 3 a.m. and was back on air at 8 a.m. I only got about two hours of sleep. I probably could have told my bosses I needed to sleep for a few more hours, but it was too big of a story, and I wanted to be back in the middle of it again to tell people what I saw.

Youve been on the Hill practically every day during the pandemic. What changes have you seen since the start of COVID-19?

We used to be able to walk around with our own camera crews. Id walk around with my own chase camera, and thats where we would buttonhole lawmakersin the hallway. Wed put the camera in their face and get them to respond. During the pandemic, all the networks have cut back on those camera crews, for social distancing, and as a result I dont have as many of those moments when I can grab someone in the hallway and put a camera in their faceour camera locations are all pooled. Were still running around asking questions, its just mostly off camera now. Its different when a viewer actually watches someone dodge a questionthat has a different impact.

Has that made it harder to do your job?

Typically, members who are running for reelections in difficult races want to avoid the press. In the run-up to the 2020 election, the Senate was at stake and members were trying to avoid any press whatsoever. There are senators-only elevators where senators can go in and not answer your question because you have to get permission to ride with them. There are back stairways all throughout the Capitollawmakers use those back entrances and exits to leave the Capitol so they can avoid your line of questioning. It was easier for them to do it because there were just fewer of us around, and fewer cameras around.

Until you joined CNN, you were a print reporter. What made you decide to transition to TV?

[At Politico], Id been doing more guest appearances on television shows. I was on Meet the Press, I did CNN a lot, I did the Sunday shows, Face the Nation. I was appearing as a panelist, and I was enjoying it. A big moment for me was when I was sole moderator [in 2014] for the Colorado gubernatorial and Senate debates. They were two big races and it made a ton of news, and I realized the importance of reporting on air and the impact it could have. That was a pretty revelatory moment in my career.

A lot of lawmakers have contracted COVID over the past year. Have you felt at risk when youre on the Hill?

The Capitol has been a hot spot. The good thing is they just put testing in at the Capitol. Thats finally available, so I get tested now almost every day of the week when Im up there. So at least I have some level of security that Im not carrying it back home. For a while, there was no mask mandate requirement on the House side. I would interview members who were not wearing masks. Id be wearing a mask. I always wear a mask everywhere I go thereI have tobut they dont. There were some members who refused to; now theres a requirement that they have to. On the Senate side, most membersexcept for onewear a mask everywhere they go. But still, masks are not 100% effective.

Whos the senator that wont wear a mask?

[Kentucky Sen.] Rand Paulhe says because hes had COVID before he believes hes immune now. Thats possible, but of course we dont quite know the science behind that fully, whether hes 100% immune.

What was the most important lesson you learned covering Capitol Hill during the Donald Trump years?

One thing I try to do as a reporter is tune out the noise, and during the Trump years the noise was intense. Being called an enemy of the people. What I learned is to ignore that, as hard as it can be at times. Its a distraction. You really have to have thick skin or really just tune it out. The Twitter mobs are intense, but ignore the Twitter mobs the best you can and just try to move forward to report and do the job you were hired to do.

In January 2020, Martha McSally, then Arizonas junior senator, called you a liberal hack during her campaign. What were you thinking at the time?

The moment that happened I was not thrilled about it, not because it hurt my feelings in any waybecause it did notbut because I knew it would become a news story, and I do not like to be in the center of the story. I like to cover the news. I like to drive the news cycle. I dont want to be the subject of an attack by a senator whos just trying to get attention for herself. But the moment she said it I knew it was going to be a story and I had a duty to report it. She said it not just in front of me but in front of other reportersit was going to be reported one way or [the] other. And she had her spokesperson walking around with her cellphone camera recording itso it may have been planned to some extent. They tweeted out their own video of it.

How did the incident with McSally begin?

I was in the middle of covering [former President Trumps January 2020] impeachment trial. I was asking her very fair questions. I asked her, Do you support subpoenaing witnesses and documents? She was a Republican senator up for election in a difficult race, and she had not said where she was on that, and that was a key question. The Democrats needed 51 votes to move forward, so of course I was going to ask her that question, and she did not want to answer that.

There was also some controversy around a story you reported in 2017that Donald Trump Jr. had access to WikiLeaks information about Hillary Clinton before the public did during the 2016 campaign. It turned out not to be true.

Sometimes bad information comes your way and you do your best job to make sure you dont report bad information. But if it happens, we have to acknowledge that. What we did was we reported a story inaccurately, and when we found out we were wrong, we ran a correction. No reporter likes to make a mistake, and I made a mistake and we corrected it. It also shows you that our job is to report honestly, and when you make a mistake you own up to it, and thats basically what we did.

You were honored with the prestigious Joan S. Barone Award at the 2017 Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner for a story you did on the 2016 New Hampshire Senate race. What made that story so special?

What I really like to do is sit down with politicians and press them with direct questions, and when theyre not answering, I like to press them until they actually respond. In the 2016 New Hampshire Senate race, both candidates refused to express their views on their [respective presidential candidates]. The Republican [then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte] wouldnt say whether she endorsed Donald Trump, and the Democratic candidate [Sen. Maggie Hassan] wouldnt say whether she thought Hillary Clinton was honest and trustworthy. That became a really good story because it revealed how the candidates were struggling with their presidential candidates.

Any other favorite stories youve done at CNN?

During Donald Trumps first impeachment trial, there was a moment when a key witness was behind closed doors and I got to break the news of what he was sayingand it was bombshell stuff. The witness had heard [Gordon Sondland, the former] ambassador to the European Union, and Donald Trump talking about Ukraine launching an investigation into Joe Biden. [The testimony] was central to the impeachment trial, and my competitors were all sitting there listening to me report it. We had just broken this huge story.

How did you get exclusive access to that witness testimony?

From years of source development.

Your brother, Sharat, is a television director in Los Angeleshes directed episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Minds. Was there any pressure on you or him to go into medicine like your father?

For a lot of Indian kids, their parents tell them they want them to be doctors or engineers and the like. My parents, to their credit, did not pressure methey let me pursue whatever I wanted to do, and I really am grateful for that.

What was it like growing up in the Midwest as a first-generation Indian American?

There werent that many Indian people. It was a very white, very Catholic community that we grew up in, and for my parents, they really had a lot to learn. This was a foreign land for them. They didnt know anybody when they moved here. I really hand it to themcoming to a brand-new culture, trying to figure it out. For me, I grew up assimilating into U.S. culture but also having a lot of connections to India. My parents wanted to ensure our Indian heritage stuck with us even as we were growing up in this country. We did a lot of stuff with the Indian community in the area.

Were there times for you as a kid when it was difficult to balance the two cultures?

When youre a kid, its hard because you are trying to fit in, but it got easier as I grew up and understood why my parents were pushing to ensure that I stayed connected to my roots. In high school, I really started to appreciate my roots and my Indian identity and to feel very grounded. I was very comfortable on Saturdays playing sports, going to practice or playing games, and on Sundays going to temple and doing youth group activities. I was able to merge the two different aspects of my life.

How do you think being the child of immigrants has impacted you as an adult?

Coming from an immigrant family I think helps with your work ethic because my parents worked so hard and I watched them work so hard to achieve everything they did. My dad, in particular, came from pretty humble means.

Being on the Hill every day, youve missed your son and daughter doing remote learning. What are you hearing from themor your wifeabout that?

[My kids have] suddenly become totally adept at using their iPads for Zoom meetingsthey are on Zoom meetings for virtual school all day. Its funny watching how they navigate it. I watched them do show-and-tell on Zoom and it was hilarious watching them call on other kids asking questions. At 5 years old, they know how to use Zoom better than I do. But still, they need help. Thankfully we have a nanny whos been a huge help in getting us through.

How does your family handle it on those nights when news breaks and you have to dash back to the Hill right after youve gotten home?

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, it was Friday night about 7 p.m. Id been cleared for the nightnothing on my beat was popping. Id gotten home about an hour before and was settling in for a relaxing evening. Suddenly I get a call from the desk saying RBG has died. Can you call in immediately? She was such a momentous figure and had a huge impact on society, but the immediate question was: With weeks to go until the election, what will happen with the replacement? Will the Republicans be able to confirm a new nominee? Will they actually do that? Will any Republicans break rank, and will they stop it? I had a quick phone interview with [CNN anchor] Erin BurnettI have my at-home studio, but it takes like five to seven minutes to set up and there was no time to do it. I said goodbye to my family and headed to Capitol Hill. This is a job where you cant predict your schedulethankfully I have an understanding family.

Do your wife and kids watch you on TV?

My wife watches a fair amount of CNN. My kids see me, but theyre not blown away or interested. They just think its normal. When were out and someone comes up and recognizes me, the kids think its really funnytheyll laugh about it after.

Are you ever able to get a total break from politics?

When we go on [family] trips I really try to tune out. Last year, during the pandemic, we went to Virginia Beach for a week and I completely tuned out. That was August. Its been awhile.

What are your favorite neighborhood haunts?

Comet Ping Pongwe love Comet. And [the Italian restaurant] Im Eddie Cano. The kids love going out. We miss doing that, having a nice long lunch with the kids, going to museums at the Mall, going to bounce houses. Now we try to go to parks and playgrounds that arent too crowded.

Whats the first trip you and your wife are going to take with the kids when things are normal again?

I have a lot of extended family in India. We have not gone as a family yetwe had hoped to go this year, but I dont know if thats going to happen. At some point I want to take the kids to see their extended family. I used to go there a lot when I was a kidevery few years to see my uncles and aunts and cousins. We want to start doing that once we get past all of this.

Now that you cant go out, how have you and your wife been surviving the pandemic?

[My wifes] a phenomenal cook. Im her sous-chefIll cut vegetables for her and wash the dishes afterward. I try to [cook] every once in a while, but it takes me twice as long, I make twice the mess and it tastes half as good.

Amy Halpern is a journalist who has worked in print and television news, and as the associate producer of an Emmy award-winning documentary. She lives in Potomac. The Bethesda Interview is edited for length and clarity.

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CNN's Manu Raju talks about US Capitol riots, covering the Hill - BethesdaMagazine.com

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonSupreme Court rebuffs bid for Hillary Clinton deposition about emails Trump the X-factor in Virginia governor race Surgeon who treated Gabby Giffords after shooting launches House bid in Arizona MORE said in an interview released Thursday that she supports repealing the filibuster for constitutional issues, including voting rights legislation and other measures.

Clinton told Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for her 2016 presidential campaign, that the filibuster stands in the way of a lot of legislation, and whether or not it can be either reformed or eliminated is what we will find out in the next few weeks.

"It certainly should be lifted for constitutional matters, and I would put election law matters at the top of that list," Clinton said on an episode of Palmieris podcast, Just Something About Her, published on Thursday.

The current filibuster rules require 60 votes in the Senate to move forward with legislation. Calls for nixing the procedural tool have gained steam recently among Democratic lawmakers, and President BidenJoe BidenThe Hill's Morning Report - GOP pounces on Biden's infrastructure plan Biden administration unveils network of community leaders to urge COVID-19 vaccinations Pompeo 'regrets' not making more progress with North Korea MORE has signaled that he is open to making significant changes to the filibuster if it continues to be a roadblock to passing legislation on top priorities such as voting rights legislation.

Clinton in the interview released Thursday accused Republican lawmakers of seeking to block voting rights bills following Bidens victory over former President TrumpDonald TrumpThe Hill's Morning Report - GOP pounces on Biden's infrastructure plan Pompeo 'regrets' not making more progress with North Korea Biden sets off Capitol Hill scramble on spending, taxes MORE in the 2020 presidential election.

"We had a good election. More people voted. It was fair. It was credible. It was certified by lots of Republican states and the Republicans didn't like the result. Being the result-oriented folks that they are, they're trying to change the rules to make it harder for people to vote and have their votes counted," Clinton said on the podcast. "And I do think this is a direct constitutional challenge to the rights of citizenship, to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment, to a long line of cases."

Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerIntercept bureau chief on Democrats' efforts on minimum wage: 'Might as well go for it' Schumer kicks into reelection mode The disgrace that was the Biden press conference MORE (D-N.Y.) has vowed that the Senate will hold a vote on sweeping voting rights legislation known as the For the People Act.

Senators in a committee hearing last week battled over the legislation, which expands voting access, creates an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission in an effort to get rid of partisan gerrymandering and more.

"This Senate will once again be the forum where civil rights are debated and historic action is taken to secure them for all Americans," Schumer said last week.

The Senate is also expected to move on the John LewisJohn LewisDemocrats torn on Biden's bipartisan pledge Biden: Georgia law is 'Jim Crow in the 21st century' Liberals think Biden just made getting rid of the filibuster easier MORE Voting Rights Act, legislation to restore previous protections in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that were limited in 2013 by the Supreme Court.

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Hillary Clinton: Filibuster should be lifted for voting rights legislation | TheHill - The Hill

Yesterday the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a D.C. Circuit ruling that barred Judicial Watch from deposing Hillary Clinton about her long-ago email server. Hosanna, 2016 is finally, finally over.

Hillary Clinton left the State Department in 2013, and in the intervening eight years, congressional and executive branch investigations have exhaustively plumbed the issue of her infamous email server. Nonetheless, the conservative group has been suing since 2014 seeking to depose her for what is certain to be smoking gun evidence of wrongdoing. If Tom Fitton can just get in a room with the former Secretary, then theyll finally be able to LOCK HER UP for doing Benghazis with her emails or something.

(Yeah, he always looks like that. Real men dont need leg day. Or fiber.)

They got this close last March when U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberthordered Clinton to sit for questioning on her subjective motivation for using a private email server as part of Judicial Watchs interminable FOIA suit against the State Department.

When did [Secretary Clinton] first learn that States records management employees were unaware of the existence of her private server? Judge Lambeth wondered. And why did she think that using a private server to conduct State Department business was permissible under the law in the first place?

The judge failed to explain how Clintons subjective understanding of the legality of her email setup in 2011 might be relevant to a FOIA search in 2020 an omission the appeals court observed in its reversal last August.

Here, the District Court ordered Secretary Clintons deposition primarily to probe her motives for using a private email server and her understanding of the State Departments records-management obligations, D.C. Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins wrote. However, neither of these topics is relevant to the only outstanding issue in this FOIA litigation whether the State Department has conducted an adequate search for talking points provided to Ambassador Rice following the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, or for any communications or records related to those specific talking points.

So Fitton squeezed into his best spandex dress shirt and stomped over to 1 First Street, confident that his pals Amy, Brett, Neil, Sam, and Clarence would put the situation to rights. Sadly, no.

The case was buried deep in the Certiorari Denied section of yesterdays orders list, with nary a dissent registered from the conservative stalwarts who likely owe their job to a rightwing media sphere which worked so hard to make Hillary Clintons stupid emails seem like the crime of the century.

But Tom Fitton knows who is to blame, and it is the Deep State.

Hillary Clinton ignored the law but received special protection from both the courts and law enforcement. For countless Americans, this double standard of justice has destroyed confidence in the fair administration of justice. Americans would never have known about Hillary Clintons email and related pay for play scandals but for Judicial Watchs diligence. We expect that the Biden State and Justice Departments will continue to protect her and cover up their own misconduct as we press for additional accountability through the courts.

The statement appeared on Judicial Watchs website, alongside fulsome praise for the groups peerless victory in Judge Lamberths courtroom. The appellate reversal was not mentioned.

Thus ends #ClintonBodyCountGhazigate, the biggest scandal the United States has ever known. Not with a bang, but with a whine followed by 10,000 bicep curls and a Newsmaxhit.

Its a brave new world.

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Originally posted here:
SCOTUS Boots Conservative Effort To Depose Clinton About Email Server Because OMG WHAT YEAR IS IT? - Above the Law

The New York Times on Monday characterized former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a partisan combatant who is flouting protocol that former secretaries remain quiet after their exit from public service.

Out of office for more than two months, Mr. Pompeo has not stopped punching, the Times wrote. In a series of speeches, interviews and Twitter posts, he is emerging as the most outspoken critic of President Biden among former top Trump officials. And he is ignoring, much as he did in office, the custom that current and former secretaries of state avoid the appearance of political partisanship.

The criticism glossed over the fact that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who served under President Barack Obamas tenure from 2009 to 2013, later went on to become the Democratic presidential nominee just three years after leaving the State Department. Obamas next secretary of state, former Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, remained a critic of Republicans throughout the Trump years and re-entered the White House under President Joe Biden as the climate czar.

While the Times acknowledged the political presence of Clinton and Kerry in their post-diplomatic careers, the paper de-emphasized their frequent criticisms and presented their partisanship as mere pushback from Pompeos allies.

Mr. Pompeos political strategist did not respond to messages seeking comment or an interview, but people close to Mr. Pompeo said Democratic secretaries of state before him, including John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, were openly critical of President Donald J. Trump, the paper wrote. But Mr. Kerry largely held his tongue for the first months of the Trump presidency, growing more openly critical if less relentlessly so after Mr. Trump announced in June 2017 that the United States would pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

On Clinton, the Times merely wrote, By the time Mr. Trump took office earlier that year, Mrs. Clinton, his election opponent, had long shed any nonpartisan diplomatic veneer.

Clinton had announced her bid for president as early as 2015, just two years after leaving the Obama administration. Shortly after she lost in 2016, the former secretary of state went on a book tour where she blamed the Russians and has since continued to spew debunked conspiracies alleging her political opponents are agents of the Kremlin government.

By May 2017, Kerry railed against the new Trump administration in a speech to Harvard graduates telling them they should learn to speak Russian to work in the White House, as a special counsel probe went underway to investigate Trump. Kerry also engaged in shadow diplomacy with Iran in 2018 to undermine the Trump administration and save the Iran deal.

But Pompeo, according to the Times, is breaking protocol to probe presidential ambitions.

Original post:
NYT Glosses Over Russia Hoaxer Hillary To Say Pompeo Is Too Partisan - The Federalist