U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm (Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP – think IN pictures
@1WORLD Community)
JohnnyAdam – Ahli
parlimen Amerika Syarikat berhadapan wartawan dan mengancam kira-kira untuk
membuang dia di balkoni dalam satu temu bual berikut alamat Union Negeri
Presiden Barack Obama petang Selasa.
New York
Rep Michael Grimm (dariKanan) telah ditemubual oleh stesen berita tempatan NY1 apabila
ditanya mengenai dakwaan mengenai siasatan persekutuan ke kewangan kempen
beliau. Grimm enggan menjawab soalan dan cepat berjalan jauh dari kamera,
tetapi cerita yang jauh dari berakhir di sana.
Sejurus
kemudian Grimm kembali dan menghadapi menghadapi wartawan Michael Scotto ,
secara lisan berating dia untuk bertanyakan soalan yang tidak berkaitan dengan
Negeri ucapan Kesatuan . Walaupun penegasan Scotto bahawa beliau telah bertanya
soalan yang sah, Grimm mengancam untuk membuang Scotto lebih balkoni dan "
memecahkan [dia] pada separuh. "
Seluruh
kejadian telah ditangkap oleh kamera NY1 ini:
Lawmaker
threatens to throw reporter off of Capitol balcony after State of the Union
A United
States lawmaker confronted a reporter and threatened to throw him off of a
balcony during an interview following President Barack Obama’s State of the
Union address Tuesday evening.
New York
Rep. Michael Grimm (R) was being interviewed by local news station NY1 when he
was asked about allegations concerning a federal probe into his campaign
finances. Grimm refused to answer the question and quickly walked away from the
camera, but the story far from ended there.
Moments
later, Grimm returned and got into the face of reporter Michael Scotto,
verbally berating him for asking a question unrelated to the State of the Union
speech. Despite Scotto’s assertion that he was asking a valid question, Grimm
threatened to throw Scotto over the balcony and “break [him] in half.”
The entire incident was
captured by NY1's cameras:
Berikut
adalah transkrip pertukaran, ihsan NY1.
Grimm: “Biar
saya jelas kepada anda, anda berbuat demikian kepada saya sekali lagi saya akan
membuang anda ini dari f ----- g balkoni.”
Scotto: “Mengapa
saya hanya mahu bertanya kepada anda . . .”
[[cross
talk]]
Grimm : “Jika
anda berbuat demikian kepada saya sekali lagi . . .”
Scotto: “Mengapa?
Mengapa ? Ianya soalan yang sah”
[[cross
talk]]
Grimm: “Tidak,
tidak, anda tidak cukup jantan, anda tidak cukup jantan, saya patah anda separuh
macam budak . . .”
Tidak
lama selepas konfrontasi, Grimm mengeluarkan kenyataan berikut:
“Saya
amat marah kerana saya telah melakukan NY1 ‘favor’ oleh bergegas untuk
melakukan wawancara pertama mereka sebagai ganti beberapa permintaan lain. Wartawan
yang tahu bahawa saya tergesa-gesa dan hanya ada mengulas mengenai Kesatuan Negara,
tetapi berkeras mengambil pukulan menghormati dan murah pada akhir temu bual
itu, kerana saya tidak mempunyai masa untuk bercakap di luar topik.
“Saya
secara lisan mengambil wartawan untuk tugas dan memberitahu dia pergi, kerana
saya mengharapkan satu tahap profesionalisme dan menghormati, terutamanya
apabila saya keluar dari jalan saya untuk melakukan wartawan yang ‘favor’. Saya
ragu-ragu bahawa saya Ahli pertama Kongres untuk mendamprat wartawan, dan saya
pasti saya tidak akan jadi yang terakhir,” kata Grimm.
Sementara
itu, Pengarah NY1 Politik Bob Hardt dipanggil tingkah laku Grimm “amat
membimbangkan” dan menuntut permohonan maaf dari Kongres itu.
Awal bulan
ini, FBI tangkap Diana Durand - bekas teman wanita Grimm - dan menun-tutnya
dengan membuat sumbangan kewangan haram untuk kempen ahli parlimen melalui
penderma jerami. Beliau menderma jumlah maksimum $ 4,800 yang dibenarkan di
bawah undang-undang semasa, tetapi kemudian didakwa memberitahu 4 individu lain
dia akan membayar balik kepada mereka jika mereka membuat sumbangan mereka
sendiri. Durand dilaporkan disalurkan lebih daripada $ 10,000 kepada kempen
Grimm secara haram.
Grimm
sendiri tidak terlibat dalam skandal itu, walaupun Washington Times melaporkan
bahawa dia sedang disiasat bagi mungkin meminta wang daripada penderma asing.
Bagi
ancaman Grimm untuk melambungkan Scotto lalui balkoni itu, wartawan itu berkata
beliau mengambil keadaan dalam usaha.
“Saya
tidak percaya isi ancaman langsung. Maksud saya, saya tidak mengambil ia secara
peribadi,” Scotto memberitahu CNN “Hari Baru” pada hari Rabu, menurut Politico.
“Saya hanya fikir dia marah dengan hakikat bahawa saya bertanya soalan itu, dan
saya fikir beliau lebih marah oleh fakta bahawa jenis menjelaskan saya kepada
penonton mengapa dia tidak akan menjawab soalan itu . . . Ia pergi dengan territory
itu. "
Here’s a
transcript of the exchange, courtesy of NY1.
Grimm:
"Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I'll throw you off
this f-----g balcony."
Scotto:
"Why? I just wanted to ask you..."
[[cross
talk]]
Grimm:
"If you ever do that to me again..."
Scotto:
"Why? Why? It’s a valid question."
[[cross
talk]]
Grimm:
"No, no, you're not man enough, you're not man enough. I'll break you in
half. Like a boy."
Shortly
after the confrontation, Grimm released the following statement:
“I was
extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their
interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was
in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but
insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview,
because I did not have time to speak off-topic.
“I
verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain
level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do
that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell
off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last,” Grimm said.
For his
part, NY1 Political Director Bob Hardt called Grimm’s behavior “extremely
disturbing” and demanded an apology from the Congressman.
Earlier
this month, the FBI arrested Diana Durand – Grimm’s ex-girlfriend – and charged
her with making illegal financial contributions to the lawmaker’s campaign
through straw donors. She donated the maximum amount of $4,800 permissible
under current law, but then allegedly told four other individuals she would
reimburse them if they made their own donations. Durand reportedly funneled
more than $10,000 to Grimm’s campaign illegally.
Grimm
himself has not been implicated in the scandal, though the Washington Times
reports that he is under investigation for possibly asking for money from
foreign donors.
As for
Grimm’s threat to toss Scotto over the balcony, the reporter said he is taking
the situation in stride.
“I don’t
believe the substance of the threat at all. I mean, I’m not taking it
personally,” Scotto told CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday, according to Politico.
“I just think he was angry by the fact that I asked that question, and I think
he was even more angry by the fact that I kind of explained to viewers why he
was not going to answer that question. … It goes with the territory.”
