[joshuahedlund]

No but I re-read that sentence three times because of how poorly it was written. I don't think I've ever read a news article where a quoted person's description bridged two facts with the phrase "and before that".

[oconnore]

<Exclamation>, said <identity and credentials>. "<Explanation>".

I don't see anything wrong with that.

[joshuahedlund]

Yes, that is standard. This is just redundant and sounds like a run-on:

<Exclamation>, said <identity and credentials and before that other credentials>. "<Explanation>".