Sen. Patty Murray’s office dismisses accusations of anti-Semitism

A pro-Israel activist and reporter is accusing a Sen. Patty Murray staffer of saying his office doesn’t care about anti-Semitism.

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Sarah Stern is the president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth. She reports for the Jewish News Service. Earlier this month, Stern visited Sen. Murray’s office to ask about their opposition to Trump’s nomination of Kenneth Marcus to a position in the Department of Education. She told 770 KTTH’s Jason Rantz she heard some really concerning comments while she was there.

“My colleague and I, who, thank God, was in the meeting and taking contemporaneous notes, heard him say, quote, ‘we don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office,” Stern said. “‘We care about transgenders, we care about blacks, we care about Hispanics, we care about gays, we care about lesbians, we care about the disabled, we don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office.'”

The staffer in question: Jake Cornett. Stern said she actually didn’t want to name the staffer at first, but editors and other journalists convinced her.

“I always like to leave a meeting in a Senator’s office or in a congressional office on a positive note,” Stern said, “but I just filed it away. I was very offended but it wasn’t until I was pushed that I felt I had to identify the staffer.”

Murray’s press secretary Eli Zupnick emailed a statement in response to Stern’s claims where he explained the office takes all forms of discrimination seriously, including anti-Semitism. He went on to say there must have been a misunderstanding.

Second of all, the staffer in the meeting absolutely denies the quote attributed to him and regrets that what he did say in the meeting two months ago could have been misunderstood and misconstrued so badly. He does not believe, and in no way intended to convey, that the office considers fighting anti-Semitism to be anything less than a critical issue and an important part of the position that Mr. Marcus has been nominated for.

Stern said she’s confident she didn’t misunderstand.

“People who know me know I have absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose by coming forward with this,” Stern said.

Zupnick’s statement also indicates their office followed up with Stern and had a “productive conversation” to confirm she understood the office’s position on the issue.

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