New Details Emerge about Scott Brown’s Samoa Event
The event, which was honoring 50 years of service from the Peace Corps, caused the State Department to investigate the ambassador's behavior.
Photo via AP
Earlier this week, when Scott Brown addressed reports that his behavior at an event in Samoa had prompted an investigation, he framed his conduct as a series of innocent cultural misunderstandings. “I was told by my people that, ‘You’re not Scott Brown from Rye, New Hampshire anymore. You’re an ambassador, and you have to be culturally aware of different cultures and sensitivities,'” he said in a video interview.
But thanks to a new in-depth report on the now-infamous trip to the small nation, a different version of events has emerged.
According to a report from the Guardian, Brown, the onetime senator from Massachusetts and current ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, was “rude,” made guests at the July 28 event uncomfortable, stared at two women’s bodies, snapped at a Trump opponent, and bungled a speech about the Peace Corps.
Brown allegedly shushed attendees and demanded they listen to him, the Guardian reports, and, when one attendee expressed that they were critical of Donald Trump, Brown “angrily told him to get over it.” Brown also reportedly upset attendees with the tone of a speech he gave, which allegedly included the inaccuracy that “[President] Kennedy started the Peace Corps 100 years ago.” Kennedy formed the Peace Corps in 1961.
The State Department has also now confirmed that it led an investigation into Brown’s conduct and that he has been “counselled on standards of conduct for government employees.”
“The state department takes allegations of misconduct seriously and we investigate them thoroughly. We hold all employees to the highest standard. The office of inspector general has conducted an independent review of the allegations and reported its findings to the department,” a state department spokesperson tells the paper. “Senior leadership at the state department has been in contact with Ambassador Brown and he has been counselled on standards of conduct for government employees, which also includes ambassadors.”
Brown, an early supporter of Trump in the Republican primary, has suggested previously he believes the allegations are politically motivated.
