John Coale’s Wife Slams Vetting Requirements For His State Department Appointment: “Our Government Is Insane”

Reform.news Editorial Team · 6 November 2026, 13:05

https://reform.news/en/john-coale-s-wife-slams-vetting-requirements-for-his-state-department-appointment-our-government-is-insane/

Greta Van Susteren, a journalist and the wife of John Coale, the US president’s special envoy for Belarus, has described the difficulties encountered during the vetting process for her husband’s appointment to a State Department position responsible for securing the release of Americans held in foreign prisons. According to her, the procedure required her to provide information about the birthplaces of her parents, who died decades ago, while Coale was asked to obtain his university grades from an institution he graduated from 54 years ago.

In posts on X, she described the procedure as absurd and criticised US authorities for their bureaucratic requirements.

“THIS IS INSANE..OUR GOVT IS INSANE. John Coale has gotten 900+ out of prison in Belarus..then Trump nominated him to head the office in State Dept to get Americans wrongfully detained out of foreign prisons but he must be senate confirmed and the process is so stupid. He was asked today for his college grades (he graduated 54 years ago) and he had to call Univ of Md and they won’t give him his grades w/out him telling them the phone number he used in 1969 and he has NO IDEA what number he had then…all this to help get Americans home!” she wrote, tagging the accounts of US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Van Susteren also said that during Coale’s vetting process, she received a phone call asking her to provide the birthplaces of her father and mother.

“Oh ..there is more….as part of my husband’s confirmation, I got a call asking where my father was born …I have no idea..he was born in 1914 (I know that) and grew up in small town in Wisconsin with no hospital..and he has been dead almost 40 years…there still is no hospital in the small town where he grew up…so I guessed! I just named the nearby town hospital…where I as born.,,…but that could be wrong…I have no idea,” she complained.

“AND THERE IS MORE…I got a call during my work day for my husband’s confirmation asking where my mother was born. I have no idea. She was born in 1911 and has been dead for more than 25 years. I assumed there was a hospital in the town she grew up in upstate NY – which I do know – but with my luck, that hospital was torn down 60 years ago and replaced with some other named hospital. ALL THIS BECAUSE MY HUSBAND WANTS TO BRING AMERICANS HOME. The government is really going stupid putting people who want to help through ridiculous stuff,” the journalist added.

Van Susteren joked that if her assumptions about her parents’ birthplaces turned out to be incorrect and she were accused of lying, Coale would have to work to secure her release alongside other hostages.