Steven Sotloff spokesman blasts White House handling

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The spokesman said The White House did not do enough to help Sotloff. | Getty

By JONATHAN TOPAZ | 9/9/14 6:31 AM EDT

A spokesman for Steven Sotloff’s family contends the slain American journalist was sold to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by Syrian rebels and says the Obama administration “could have done more” to save him.

Appearing on CNN Monday evening, Barak Barfi said that his sources in the region have told him one or more of the Syrian rebels sold Sotloff to ISIL for $25,000-$50,000. He referred to them as “so-called moderate rebels, that people want our administration to support,” a jab at lawmakers and political figures — including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and many others — that have suggested arming the Syrian rebels.

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Barfi, a research fellow at the New America Foundation, reserved stronger criticism for the Obama administration, whom he accused of spreading inaccuracies and failing to do enough to secure Sotloff’s release. The White House has confirmed two separate videos released in the last month showing an ISIL militant beheading Sotloff and fellow captured U.S. journalist James Foley.

(Also on POLITICO: Rank-and-file divided on ISIL vote)

“We know that the intelligence community and the White House are enmeshed in a larger game of bureaucratic infighting and Jim and Steve are pawns in that game and that’s not fair,” he said, in a reference to Foley.

Barfi also said that “the administration has made a number of inaccurate statements,” including that the Sotloff family was kept “regularly informed” regarding Steven and that the hostages were often moved to different locations.

“The relationship between the administration and the Sotloff family was very strained,” he added, saying that the family made one request from the White House following the release of the video and that the administration “rebuffed” them. He elected not to elaborate on the specifics of the request out of respect to the remaining ISIL hostages.

(Also on POLITICO: Poll: Majority say Obama a failure)

The White House, he said, simply did not do enough to help Sotloff. “The administration could have done more, they could have helped us, they could have seen them through,” Barfi said.

The New York Times reported last week that the Sotloff family was upset with the White House for what they perceived as intentional leaks regarding the circumstances of his death.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/steven-sotloff-family-criticize-white-house-110744.html#ixzz3Cops1YOb