WSJ reporter scheduled to take leave

The Wall Street Journal reporter whose amorous 2008 emails with a senior Bush official in Iraq appear to have been leaked on Flickr and Cryptome earlier this week is scheduled to take a leave of absence from the paper later this summer, reports Kat Stoeffel of the New York Observer.

Stoeffel writes, “‘Gina Chon, currently a reporter in Money & Investing, asked for a formal leave of absence from The Wall Street Journal in March when it appeared her then-fiancé [Brett McGurk] might be nominated as ambassador to Iraq,’ she wrote. ‘The request was granted at the time, and the leave is scheduled to begin later this summer.’

“As for the leaked emails, the spokeswoman said the company is ‘looking into the matter.’

“The alleged epistles date back to 2008, when the pair were stationed in Baghdad, she as the Journal’s Iraq correspondent, he as the National Security Council’s Iraq director. It sounds like a Hollywood-ready ‘journalist weaves romantic web around source’ story, but the small collection of emails describes a frustrating war zone affair plagued by off the record dinners, pesky housemates and omnipresent security goons. (They are now married.)

“‘Had a very good day with the Iraqis–the best yet,’ goes one dispatch attributed to Mr. McGurk’s State Department e-mail address. ‘Can’t tell you about it of course.'”

Read more here.