Biden reportedly doling out cushy diplomatic jobs to deep-pocketed Dem donors

President Joe Biden has been doling out cushy diplomatic jobs to deep-pocketed donors despite his pledge to base his choices for the plum foreign positions on the best-qualified people for the job, according to a bombshell new report that suggests that the career politician was being less than honest.

The analysis of Biden’s ambassadors that was put together by the nonpartisan watchdog, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), reports that nearly 60 wealthy individuals had a history of donating big dollars to Democrats over the last decade before being tabbed for their overseas gigs.

According to the report which is titled “The Donor-To-Ambassador Pipeline,” the appointees who had held positions in the banking, legal and lobbying sectors before being selected by Biden had “limited or nonexistent credentials for foreign service” and on average, donated over $400,000 to Democrat campaigns.

Biden’s appointments were made despite legislation that clearly states that “contributions to political campaigns should not be a factor” in the appointment of foreign service diplomats,” the report notes.

The organization points out that the problem of selecting donors for the positions – which while not isolated to the current administration – persists despite Biden’s 2019 promise that “[n]obody, in fact, will be appointed by me based on anything they contributed,” yet another example of the dishonesty of the nation’s 46th president.

Among those singled out in the report is Michael M. Adler whom Biden appointed as Ambassador to Belgium on September 22, 2021, and who “has no foreign policy experience and was running a hotel business out of South Florida prior to his nomination.”

According to the report, “Adler is a generous political donor. He and his wife contributed over $300,000 to Democratic political committees in the ten years before he was nominated, and he served as national finance chair for President Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign. Most recently, he bundled at least $100,000 in contributions for President Biden’s 2020 campaign.”

Another Biden pick is former Hewlett-Packard CEO and GOP presidential candidate Margaret “Meg” Whitman who was tabbed as Ambassador to Kenya whose “Certificate of Competency, however, did not mention any expertise or experience in Kenya, or Africa at all.”

“In addition to her financial support for Democrats, Whitman crossed party lines to endorse President Biden in 2020,” the watchdog points out.

Among those also included is real estate executive Constance Milstein who along with her husband gave $2,151,200 to Democratic committees for the decade prior to her nomination as Biden’s Ambassador to Malta, which was made despite her never having served as a foreign policy official.

Investment banker Scott Miller along with his husband “contributed $3,324,160.00 to Democratic committees in the ten years before he was named Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein,” despite “no mention of any diplomatic or foreign policy experience or ties to Switzerland or Liechtenstein” in the State Department’s official profile and his competency certificate.

Other Biden ambassadors listed in the report also have two things in common: a history of financial support of the Democratic Party and little to no actual experience in the important positions to which they were named.

The organization concludes, “The donor-to-ambassador pipeline has caused incalculable damage to public trust by creating a widespread perception that many diplomats are selected because of their campaign contributions, not because of their experience and skills.”

“The American people have a right to know that all public officials, regardless of whether they serve at home or abroad, are appointed based on merit, not because of how much money they donated to a President or candidates the President supports. It is essential that Congress and the executive branch work to end the donor-to-ambassador pipeline now to restore faith in American diplomacy,” the report states.

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Chris Donaldson

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