US Cancels Awards For Journalist Over Trump Criticism

Foreign Policy reports:

Jessikka Aro, a Finnish investigative journalist, has faced down death threats and harassment over her work exposing Russia’s propaganda machine long before the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. In January, the U.S. State Department took notice, telling Aro she would be honored with the prestigious International Women of Courage Award, to be presented in Washington by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Weeks later, the State Department rescinded the award offer. A State Department spokesperson said it was due to a “regrettable error,” but Aro and U.S. officials familiar with the internal deliberations tell a different story. They say the department revoked her award after U.S. officials went through Aro’s social media posts and found she had also frequently criticized President Donald Trump.

A State Department spokesman says Aro was “incorrectly notified” but as you’ll see at the link, that’s a lie.

Aro is a prolific Twitter user and was originally chosen for the award because of her investigative work exposing Russian troll factories. https://t.co/74PZazvuOL

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) March 7, 2019

This happened to me. Please read. https://t.co/XrzJzaHbcT

— Jessikka Aro (@JessikkaAro) March 7, 2019