Photo from Flickr. The New York Times was forced to issue a correction to a Thursday story accusing United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley of spending $52,701 on curtains for her residence.
The story was initially titled, “Nikki Haley’s View of New York Is Priceless. Her Curtains? $52,701.” However, the sixth paragraph of the story stated, ““A spokesman for Ms. Haley said plans to buy the curtains were made in 2016, during the Obama administration. Ms. Haley had no say in the purchase, he said.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper confirmed that Haley didn’t have a say in the matter:
2/ Elaborating, a source at the US Mission to the UN tells CNN: “It was decided, well before the election in 2016, that the US Ambassador’s residence would move from the Waldorf to its new location. The new location was unfurnished/unfinished….
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 14, 2018
3/ The source continues: “In June of 2016 it was decided that the State Department's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations would outfit the new residence (this is standard operating procedure for Ambassadors' residences across the globe.)…
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 14, 2018
4/ ”In July of 2016 the first site visit was complete and the designer from OBO chose and ordered the curtains shortly thereafter (summer 2016). Also SOP OBO does not personalize residences to individual Ambassador's tastes….
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 14, 2018
5/ So this was done under @BarackObama and @SamanthaJPower?
“This isn't about blaming Obama/Power,” the source says. “It's SOP for outfitting Ambassadors' Residences. The outfitting of the USUN residence just happened to start in 2016…
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 14, 2018
6/ Bottom line, per source: “Amb. Haley had no choice in the location of the residence or what curtains were picked out that summer.”
-fin-
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 14, 2018
At the top of The New York Times article is currently an editor’s note that reads:
An earlier version of this article and headline created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question. While Nikki R. Haley is the current ambassador to the United Nations, the decision on leasing the ambassador’s residence and purchasing the curtains was made during the Obama administration, according to current and former officials. The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley, nor should a picture of her have been used. The article and headline have now been edited to reflect those concerns, and the picture has been removed.
The headline now reads: “State Department Spent $52,701 on Curtains for Residence of U.N. Envoy.”
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