‘I think I was being sent a message’: U.S. warned U.N. official about report on poverty in America - The Washington Post

"Philip G. Alston arrived in Washington last fall on a mission from the U.N. Human Rights Council to document poverty in America. At his first meeting, Alston said he was told by a senior State Department official that his findings may influence the United States' membership in the human rights body.



“A senior official said to me my report could be a factor in whether the U.S. decided or not to stay in the council,” said Alston, U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, who declined to name the official. “I think I was being sent a message.”





Two other people at the meeting, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Alston's account. State Department spokesman Noel C. Clay declined to comment on the meeting, which was held Dec. 1 at State.



U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced this week that the United States would withdraw from the Human Rights Council, citing what she called its bias against Israel. Haley also threatened a U.S. departure in 2017, saying the council whitewashed dictators' abuses. Conservatives have for years pushed for the United States to withdraw from the body, which investigates allegations of human rights abuses in U.N. member states."



‘I think I was being sent a message’: U.S. warned U.N. official about report on poverty in America - The Washington Post