'Those Are Different Questions': Matthew Miller Fires Back At Reporter Over Israel Aid Question

4 months ago

At a press briefing on Tuesday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about the deadline for the national security memorandum for Israel.

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Transcript

00:00 One more. Without getting into what the conclusion is, tomorrow is the deadline for the National

00:04 Security Memorandum that this building needs to deliver to Congress. Again, I don't expect

00:08 you to tell us what, if any, conclusion has been made, but has a conclusion been made as to whether

00:13 Israel has violated U.S. or international law? I'm not going to answer that question directly

00:18 because the report is not yet finished. We are working incredibly hard to get that report

00:22 finished, get that report finalized, and get it to – get it to – delivered to Congress as

00:27 soon as possible. Do you expect it to be delivered tomorrow? We are trying very hard to meet that

00:30 deadline. It is, I will just note, a self-imposed deadline. It's not one that is in statute,

00:34 but we are trying very hard to get the report done. It is a complicated report. This is the

00:38 first time the Department has ever written something like this, first time we've ever

00:42 gone through and made these kind of assessments about the two questions that are at issue in the

00:48 report. So there is a lot of work that has to be done. That work is ongoing. We know we're up

00:53 against the deadline. We're trying to get it – we're trying to meet it. It's possible it slips

00:56 just a little bit, but we are still at this point trying to get it done by tomorrow.

01:00 Sorry, this is the first time you guys have ever written a report about whether

01:05 your military sales to a foreign country are being used – are being used in violation or not in

01:11 violation of the – It is the first time we have had to write this kind of report that's called

01:15 for in the NSM. There may be other ones, but – But excessive you and your predecessor and

01:21 then previous administrations have always talked about how you're always looking into whether or not

01:27 the weapons that you provide to countries are used in compliance with – and this is now all of a

01:32 sudden the first time? That is – no, those are different questions, Matt. We are always looking

01:37 into how things are used, but those are ongoing assessments. And right now, these are ongoing

01:42 assessments. And that's what makes the process a little difficult. We have ongoing assessments

01:46 that are being made, and in the middle of that process, we are – because we decided it was a

01:53 good idea to do on our own volition – stopping in the middle of that and making assessments about

01:57 or answering questions about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law as well as

02:03 the delivery of humanitarian assistance. And I should add it's not just Israel – always make

02:06 this point – there are other countries as well that this applies to. It is the first time state

02:10 has ever written a report of this nature, especially in the middle of a conflict, that goes to

02:16 Congress, and so we want to make sure we have it right.

'Those Are Different Questions': Matthew Miller Fires Back At Reporter Over Israel Aid Question

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