Tuesday, June 12, 2012

WSJ's Gina Chon Resigns Over Racy E-Mails: Reporter, Now Married to Iraq Ambassador-Nominee Brett McGurk, Violated Dow Jones Code of Conduct

Man, these are pretty racy.

Turns out Ms. Chon and Mr. McGurk, in one exchange, joked about having "blue balls" the previous night.

See Howard Kurtz, at The Daily Beast, "Journal Reporter Resigns Over Affair":

Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon resigned on Tuesday over her relationship with a U.S. official who is now President Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to Iraq.

The Journal said in a statement that Chon had acknowledged that “she violated the Dow Jones code of conduct by sharing certain unpublished articles” with Brett McGurk, then a member of the National Security Council based in Iraq. The two are now married.

In 2008, the paper said, “Ms. Chon entered into a personal relationship with Mr. McGurk, which she failed to disclose to her editor. At this time the Journal has found no evidence that her coverage was tainted by her relationship with Mr. McGurk.”

Chon asked for and received a leave of absence, which was made public last week. A series of romantic e-mails had surfaced from that time period, which included not just flirting but discussions of McGurk’s negotiations with the Iraqis.
Also at London's Daily Mail, "Wall Street Journal reporter resigns after racy emails revealed 'affair' with Obama's Iraq ambassador nominee (but he's still hanging on to his job)."

I'm not sure if there'll be any White House fallout, but I don't think that, given the emails themselves, McGurk should be confirmed.

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