Barak Barfi, a friend of the American journalist Steven Sotloff executed by ISIL terrorists and current spokesman for Sotloff's family, told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the Obama administration has mishandled and misrepresented Sotloff's case.
"The administration has made a number of inaccurate statements," Barfi said. "They've said that the families have been consistently and regularly informed. That is not true.
"They said that these hostages were moved frequently. We know that for most of the beginning of this part of this year they were stationary.
"We know that the intelligence community and the White House are enmeshed in a larger game of bureaucratic infighting," Barfi continued. "If there continues to be leaks, the Sotloff family will have to speak out to set the record straight."
Barfi said the administration had used the hostages as "pawns." He also described the relationship between the Sotloff family and the Obama administration as "very strained," and said the administration had "rebuffed" the family's "one simple request" after the execution video was released.
He declined to describe the request, citing the safety of other hostages.
"The administration could have done more. They could have helped us; they could have seen them through," Barfi said. "These are people of modest means. They're not cosmopolitan; they don't have college educations; they don't understand the large ramifications in foreign policy. I don't believe they were afforded the opportunities and the respect that they should have by this administration."
Barfi also told Cooper that Sotloff was sold at the Syrian border.