Lieberman on short list for U.N. envoy — report
For the second time in little more than a year, former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman is said to be in line for a job offer from the White House.
Lieberman, who publicly supported moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, is on the short list to replace U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, according to a report from CBS.
No other evidence emerged Wednesday to support the speculation, and one source close to Lieberman said Lieberman has not been asked about accepting the job. If it were offered, however, the source said Lieberman would probably accept the ambassadorship.
A spokesman for the White House declined to confirm the report, and noted that President Donald Trump told White House pool reporters that his daughter, Ivanka, and former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell were possibilities.
“Dina certainly,” Trump said. “I’ve heard a lot of names. I’ve heard, ‘How good would Ivanka be?’ The people that know — it has nothing to do with nepotism — the people that know, know that Ivanka would be dynamite. But then I’d be accused of nepotism.”
Ivanka Trump said on Twitter she will not replace Haley. Lieberman did not return a message seeking comment.
Lieberman, 76, who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, has long been an outspoken supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and also praised Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
In May 2017, Lieberman was on the president’s short list to replace James Comey as FBI director but withdrew his name in a letter to the president, stating he believed it would be a conflict of interest given his role in a law firm where the president’s lawyer served as a senior partner.
“Just being thought of for this position was a great honor because of my enormous respect for the men and women of the FBI and the critical and courageous work they do in protecting the American people from criminals and terrorists, and upholding our finest values,'” Lieberman wrote to Trump at the time.
John Dorney, a former state Democratic chairman who campaigned on Lieberman’s behalf in 2006, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Lieberman was on the short list.
“He’s a respected former United States senator and someone who is very aware of what’s happening in the world and he’s an America first patriot,” Dorney said. ”I think he’d do a great job.”
First elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1989, Lieberman has become more conservative through the years and now identifies as an independent. In 2006 he was challenged for his Senate seat by Ned Lamont, the current Democratic nominee for governor, who questioned Lieberman’s support for the Iraq war.
Lieberman retired from the Senate in 2013, and now practices law as a senior lawyer at Kasowitz Benson Torres in New York.
Ties to McCain
Meghan McCain, the daughter of late U.S. Sen. John McCain, returned to “The View” on Tuessday morning and thanked Lieberman, among others, for their support since McCain died of brain cancer in August.
McCain said Lieberman went “really gone above and beyond,” in supporting the family after McCain’s death.
In his eulogy for McCain, who considered asking Lieberman to be his running mate in 2008, Lieberman called their friendship, “one of the great blessings of my life,” and recalled his many international trips with McCain, particularly their trips to Jerusalem.
Trump said he plans to name a successor for Haley in the next “two or three weeks.” Haley will continue in her position through the end of the year.