POLITICO: State Dept. to release human rights report as Pompeo nears confirmation vote
“The State Department plans to release its annual human rights report on Friday, a document that will draw unusual scrutiny thanks to expected changes to its format, including the amount of space devoted to women’s reproductive rights. The report’s release, confirmed to POLITICO by multiple department officials, comes days before an expected confirmation vote for President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, whom many Democrats have harshly criticized for his positions and past statements on Muslims, the LGBT community, and other issues related to human rights. … Under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom Trump fired last month, department officials were ordered at the last minute to revise the upcoming report to reduce its focus on family planning and oppressive behavior by nongovernmental entities…” (Toosi, 4/19).