Russia arrested a US citizen on spying charges, but the government shutdown makes it hard to get answers on how the Trump administration will respond
Source: www.businessinsider.com - Monday, December 31, 2018
A US citizen identified as Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on Friday and charged with espionage , and it's not clear how the Trump administration plans to respond. This appears to be linked to the fact the State Department is one of the agencies impacted by the government shutdown. The State Department was slower to respond to queries on Whelan's arrest and one spokesperson said they could not respond because they've been furloughed. A US citizen identified as Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on Friday and charged with espionage , and it's not clear how the Trump administration plans to respond. This appears to be linked to the fact the State Department is one of the agencies impacted by the government shutdown. When INSIDER reached out to State for a comment on Whelan's arrest, it initially received an automatic response from a spokesman that stated, " I am not in the office because of the furlough resulting from the lapse in U.S. Government appropriations." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Security Council told INSIDER to "check [with] State" when asked for a comment on Whelan's arrest. The US embassy in Moscow also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER. In a December 26 Facebook post , the embassy made it clear it's not operating at full capacity during the shutdown. "At this time, scheduled passport and visas services in the United States and at U.S. Embassies and Consulates
Source: Breaking News
A US citizen identified as Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on Friday and charged with espionage , and it's not clear how the Trump administration plans to respond. This appears to be linked to the fact the State Department is one of the agencies impacted by the government shutdown. The State Department was slower to respond to queries on Whelan's arrest and one spokesperson said they could not respond because they've been furloughed. A US citizen identified as Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on Friday and charged with espionage , and it's not clear how the Trump administration plans to respond. This appears to be linked to the fact the State Department is one of the agencies impacted by the government shutdown. When INSIDER reached out to State for a comment on Whelan's arrest, it initially received an automatic response from a spokesman that stated, " I am not in the office because of the furlough resulting from the lapse in U.S. Government appropriations." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Security Council told INSIDER to "check [with] State" when asked for a comment on Whelan's arrest. The US embassy in Moscow also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER. In a December 26 Facebook post , the embassy made it clear it's not operating at full capacity during the shutdown. "At this time, scheduled passport and visas services in the United States and at U.S. Embassies and Consulates
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Source: Breaking News
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