I respect press right to go anywhere & ask any question. But do they have a right to read my email and listen to my phone?
—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 29, 2012From Moscow Times:
McFaul took to Twitter on Friday morning apparently with this purpose in mind. He held an exchange in English with a user by the name @prostitutkamila in which he answered questions about his impromptu interview with NTV, which the channel aired Thursday. The U.S. ambassador said he had been nervous during the interview and misspoke “in bad Russian” when he had apparently called Russia “wild.”
“Just watched NTV,” McFaul wrote. “Did not mean to say ‘wild country.’ Meant to say NTV actions ‘wild.’ I greatly respect Russia.”
In response to a question from @prostitutkamila about why he was nervous when speaking with NTV journalists, McFaul said there were also people in military dress present.
“@prostitutkamila Were not just journalists there. Were men in military uniform. People w/ posters. All strange for me. Learning,” McFaul wrote.
His tweets:
When I asked these "reporters" how they knew my schedule, I got no answer. Heard the same silence when they met me after meeting w/ Chubais.—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 29, 2012
@jeresponderay @kozlovsky Not true. State Dept does not publish my schedule. Meeting with Ponomarev wasnt sheduled through Consulate.—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 29, 2012
Just watched NTV. I mispoke in bad Russian. Did not mean to say "wild country." Meant to say NTV actions "wild." I greatly respect Russia.—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 29, 2012
@prostitutkamila Were not just journalists there. Were men in military uniform. People w/ posters. All strange for me. Learning.—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 30, 2012
@prostitutkamila Like I said, Im learning. I'm told they were Cossacks. In US, people in uniform do not show up at mtgs of ambassadors.—
Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 30, 2012