Posted on 02/04/2011 2:10:33 PM PST by jazusamo
An Obama fundraiser awarded a cushy European ambassadorship after bundling more than half a million dollars for his presidential campaign ran her U.S. embassy like a hostile dictator, spent government funds on booze and bullied staff.
Here comes the good part. State Department leadership (that includes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) knew all about it but took no action, presumably because the wealthy donora Seattle philanthropist named Cynthia Stroumis untouchable. At least thats what an internal State Department investigation seems to indicate.
Made public this week, a scathing report of the probe says that during her year-long tenure as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg Stroum brought the embassy to a state of dysfunction with her confrontational management style and an absence of a sense of direction. Things got so out of control that career staffers requested transfers to less than desirable locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Stroum was seen by most employees as "aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating," according to investigators, who recommended that Uncle Sam deploy medical professionals to Luxembourg to treat high stress levels among embassy employees. Stroum also did unscrupulous things like spend $3,400 on alcohol, even though its against regulations.
In short, Obamas cherished money lady left the otherwise quaint embassy in the tiny European country a disaster. She quit abruptly a few weeks ago because the inspector generals reportprepared last fallwas becoming public. The State Department has made no official announcement and clearly prefers to pretend the scandal never happened.
It appears that those who donate enough money to the right politician can get away with anything at the agency responsible for Americas international relations. At least thats what its internal watchdog has concluded, that Stroums behavior is not unique among non-career ambassadors (wealthy donors rewarded with plum foreign posts) but routinely tolerated by State Department leadership.
‘Stroum was seen by most employees as “aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating,””
Typical liberal.
Nice find! I stand corrected!
CA....
Same here. I played golf several times at a course next to the Luxembourg airport. Always felt welcome there.
That’s what made her so irreplaceable. She’s one of only 390,000 speakers worldwide.
Is that skirt featuring a fashionable multi doobie print?
She is also known for favorable comments about UK Gitmo terrorist Moazzem/Moazzam Begg, who in turn is linked to imprisoned Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui.
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