I actually saw this exchange while watching a State Department briefing with that piece of crap, Richard Boucher, on CSPAN. It’s crazy what happened after.
Evidently, the reporter, Joel Mowbray had received a classified directive showing that the State Department had implemented a ‘Visa express’ program for Saudi nationals which means Saudis were able to enter the US without the normal scrutiny given to international visitors. This is a huge fuck up by the State Department since almost all of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudis. Basically, the US opened the backdoor to terrorists who just waltzed in. Anyway, after the briefing Mowbray was detained by State Department thugs no doubt at the behest of Richard Boucher. Crazy.
Mowbray had challenged Boucher on his account of events at State this week, which had to fire its longest-serving career diplomat in response to the congressional uproar created by Mowbray’s reporting on the “Visa Express” program (the program gives the Saudis easy access to U.S. visas — see Mowbray’s reporting here.
Mowbray read from a classified cable that had been leaked to him and that contradicted Boucher’s spin (both Mowbray and the Washington Post quoted from the cable earlier this week). State Department officials were not amused. Very not amused.
When Mowbray was leaving the briefing, a State Department official, accompanied by four guards, asked him to stay to answer a few questions. Mowbray said he could come back later. The official said, no, they wanted him to answer a few questions immediately.
When Mowbray began to get the feeling that he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to, he asked, “Am I being detained?”
When a diplomatic security official — who had showed up on the scene — told him “no,” Mowbray announced that he was leaving.
At which point, the guard stepped in front of Mowbray and said, “Now, you’re being detained.”