Question about the U.S. Marine in the Mexican jail

Nothing else in the world happened this week outside of Ferguson.

This is the latest we have from the State Dept - August 5th:

"QUESTION: On Sergeant Tahmooressi’s trial ongoing. During the trial, there’s not a single member of the public or the media that’s been allowed into the briefing room. Does the United States Government have an issue with that?

MS. PSAKI: Well, let me first see if I can give you just a brief update while I have the opportunity. A consular officer attended Mr. Tahmooressi’s August 4th hearing. They have – consular officers have visited him 22 – 20 times, sorry, since his arrest on March 31st. Four witnesses testified yesterday, two customs officials and two military officials. There are no more hearings currently scheduled.

Broadly speaking, Lucas, while in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to the country’s laws. We believe that he is being afforded all appropriate due process. We’d point you and refer you to the Mexican authorities for more information about why the court proceedings are not open to the public.

QUESTION: So you think he’s getting a fair trial?

MS. PSAKI: Again, I think we just said we believe he’s being afforded due process. This is obviously a case and his well-being is certainly of great concern to the United States, and that’s why we’ve had consular officials meet – visit him 20 times.

QUESTION: But for an Administration that lauds the idea of transparency, would you say that this trial is an example of that kind of transparency?

MS. PSAKI: Well, I think different laws are made in different countries about how they’re going to handle court proceedings as well.

QUESTION: But you’re defending the Mexican Government, but wouldn’t you like to see his own mother, for instance, be allowed into the courtroom to see due process, to see this trial take place? Is that not unreasonable?

MS. PSAKI: I think, Lucas, if we weren’t as concerned as we are about his wellbeing and if we weren’t as committed to making sure we provide as extensive services as we can, we wouldn’t have visited 20 – him 20 times over the course of the last few months.

QUESTION: But besides the visits, I mean, couldn’t – since Mexico is an ally of the United States, couldn’t you tell the government, we’d like to see the courtroom open to the public, or at least his family or a few cameras?

MS. PSAKI: I think we’ve raised this issue where appropriate, including at the Secretary’s level, and obviously, we’ll continue to be engaged in the case."