Judicial Watch: Biden-Harris State Dept Records Detail Targeting of Tucker Carlson over Putin Interview

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 105 pages and 211 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S. State Department in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show officials in the Biden State Department exchanging an article comparing Tucker Carlson’s February 2024 interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolph Hitler’s handing out copies of Mein Kampf to newlyweds in Germany in the 1930s. 

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia after the State Department failed to comply with a February 7, 2024, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:24-cv-00840)) for:

All (2024) emails and diplomatic notes sent to and from the following officials referencing “Tucker Carlson:” Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary James O’Brien, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Yuri Kim, Deputy Assistant Secretary Sonata Coulter, Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, Deputy Assistant Secretary Joshua Huck, Deputy Assistant Secretary Douglas Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary Jacqueline Ramos, and/or Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher W. Smith.

On February 8, 2024, the Tucker Carlson Network and X (Twitter) ran Carlson’s interview in Moscow with Putin. It was the first interview with Putin to be granted to a Western journalist since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The records obtained by Judicial Watch show the State Department has significant interest in the interview and significant interest in hiding its response to the interview.

In a nearly fully redacted February 20, 2024, email from top State Department official George Pyatt to U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and European Affairs Christopher W. Smith, Pyatt attaches an article by Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe titled “Dispatch from Munich: The lessons of appeasement for US lawmakers withholding support for Ukraine,” in which Kempe compares  Carlson’s interview of Putin with Adolph Hitler handing out copies of Mein Kampf to newlyweds in Germany.

Kempe writes in the article that the Carlson-Hitler comparison is “not such a bizarre vehicle if one considers Carlson’s influence on a Republican minority in the House that is currently standing in the way of approving additional aid for Ukraine.”

A lengthy paper circulated by email among officials in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) beginning on February 9, 2024, is almost entirely redacted. A portion of the paper is subtitled “Tucker Carlson interview of Putin?” This section of the paper is labelled “U” (Unclassified) but all of the content is redacted citing FOIA exemption (b)(5), which covers material considered to be “deliberative” in nature, or marked “non responsive.”

In the preceding email exchange State Department officials note that the paper has been prepared for Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, who would be meeting the following Monday with reporters from the Washington Post, New York Times and PBS. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim then responds in the email thread, “Clear, with edits. One more Q [question]: What do you make of Tucker Carlson’s interview of Putin?” A press officer responds to Kim and others, “Thank you very much for the edits. Staff assistants, see attached for the updated paper to include lines on Tucker Carlson’s interview of Putin.”

After receiving a Reuters article on February7, 2024, titled “Putin Gave Tucker Carlson an Interview Because He Differs from One-Sided Media,” from the press office of the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR), Deputy Asst. Secretary Sonata Coulter replies, “I was looking for a green-faced [nauseated] emoji but came up short.” A State Department official whose name is redacted replies, “Ha!”

On February 12, 2024, Tatiana Stanovaya sends a newsletter containing summaries of breaking news in an email with the subject “Putin’s Interview with Tucker Carlson; Nadezhdin: An Unexpected Challenge; Yandex, Sold: Who is Behind the Deal?” to Coutler. One of the article summaries states, “Putin’s Interview with Tucker Carlson. We dissect what went awry and the peculiar reaction Carlson’s visit elicited in Russia. We also uncover the tactical and strategic objectives Putin had in mind when he agreed to the interview.” Coulter forwards the newsletter onto a State Dept colleague: “I’m always intrigued by the teasers …” Her colleague, whose name is redacted but whose title is Director of the Office of Russian Affairs, responds, “The world wants to know!”

An email sent to Coulter on February 9 titled “Summary of Putin/Tucker Carlson Interview” by an intern working in the Office of Eastern European Affairs, characterizes the tone of the interview as “fawning,” and writes that “little new information was presented,” and that “Putin rambles on (and on and on) about Russian history.”

On February 9, 2024, the State Dept press office sends to the Director of the Office of Russian Affairs a document titled “Putin Interview with Carlson, Media Slam New Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief, New Initiative on ‘Undesirable’ Organizations,” which includes a synopsis of the Putin interview by Carlson. Officials then forward the documents to Coulter with the cover comment, “Lowlights from the Carlson interview.”

“Our lawsuit shows how the Biden State Department obviously had it in for Tucker Carlson and secretly briefed the press on Tucker’s interview with Putin but wanted to keep those briefings secret. This is corrupt,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

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