White House aide loses job over postings

WASHINGTON – A White House national security official was fired after it was discovered that he was behind an anonymous Twitter account that criticized the Obama administration.

Jofi Joseph was nonproliferation director on the National Security Council and was involved in nuclear negotiations with Iran.

His postings on the @)NatSecWonk account, which no longer is available on Twitter, often took shots at administration policy and figures, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, along with members of Congress.

One tweet said: “More people should be asking why John Kerry installed two former aides, both with ZERO foreign policy experience, into top posts at State.”

Joseph could not be reached Wednesday for comment. No one answered the telephone at a number believed to be his.

In a statement to Politico, Joseph took “complete responsibility” for the Twitter feed, saying it started as a “parody account.”

He apologized to those he insulted.

Merkel seeks answers about spying report

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday after learning that U.S. intelligence may have targeted her mobile phone, saying that would be “a serious breach of trust” if confirmed.

For its part, the White House denied that the U.S. is listening in on Merkel’s phone calls now.

“The president assured the chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

“The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges,” he said.

Associated Press