So tell me, what you think about Shaukat Aziz?

Re: So tell me, what you think about Shaukat Aziz?

"(He tried) this Savile Row-suited gigolo kind of charm: 'Pakistan is a country of rich traditions,' staring in (Rice's) eyes," a participant at the meeting recalled. "There was this test of wills where he was trying to use all his charms on her as a woman, and she just basically stared him down. By the end of the meeting, he was babbling,"

The author (not Rice) is quoting a participant (not Rice).
It would have been highly unprofessional of Rice to talk like this.