White House Chief of Staff Utters One Name Too Many During TV Interview

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough mentioned the first name of an American woman held hostage by the Islamic State during a TV interview Sunday — an action the White House has asked news organizations to refrain from doing, Politico reported.

McDonough uttered the hostage's name during an interview with "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos; the pair had been discussing the Japanese hostage situation when the name — which isn't publicly known — made it past McDonough's lips.

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“As it relates to our hostages, we are obviously continuing to work those matters very, very aggressively. We are sparing no expense and sparing no effort, both in trying to make sure that we know where they are and make sure that we’re prepared to do anything we must to try to get them home,” McDonough said. “But [redacted] family knows how strongly the president feels about this, and we will continue to work this.”

National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan told Politico, “We don’t have anything to add, other than to request again that you not use the name of the individual.”

(H/T: Mediaite)

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