A new report from the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of State slams the tenure of U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Cynthia Stroum, one of the top fund-raisers for President Barack Obama and a prolific Democratic donor. Obama appointed her to the post in 2009.

“Most employees describe the Ambassador as aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating, which has resulted in an extremely difficult, unhappy and uncertain work environment,” the new report states (see a .pdf file of the 66-page report here).

Some staffers even requested transfers to U.S. embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan to get away from Stroum’s “confrontational management style.”

Stroum, pictured right, is a philanthropist and venture capitalist from Seattle. She actually resigned from the post of ambassador in mid-January, ahead of the report’s release.

She stands among the most bountiful bundlers to be rewarded with ambassadorships, a spoil commonly doled out by Democratic and Republican presidents alike.

According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, Stroum bundled at least $800,000 for Obama’s committees, including a minimum of $500,000 to assist his 2008 presidential campaign and $300,000 to help pay for his inauguration in January 2009.

No other bundler-turned-ambassador has funneled more money Obama’s way, the Center finds, although bundling disclosure practices paint only a partial picture.

Presidential candidates are not required to disclose their bundlers’ names or the amounts bundled. The information that was voluntarily disclosed in 2008 was often only in broad ranges, such as “more than $500,000” — the category used to describe Stroum’s activities, as well as about four dozen other people’s.

Like Stroum, Nicole Avant, who is serving as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, also bundled a minimum of $800,000 to Obama’s committees, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported. And so did Charles Rivkin, who is now the U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco.

As OpenSecrets Blog reported at the time of her nomination, Stroum, along with her daughter, has also directly contributed about $165,000 to federal parties, candidates and committees since 1989.

Of this sum, 97 percent has gone to Democrats, including $4,600 to Obama and $1,000 to now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Stroum also personally donated $10,000 to Obama’s inauguration committee.

Here is a table of her other top beneficiaries:

Recipient Amount Democratic National Committee $60,500 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $19,300 Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) $11,725 Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) $10,547 Democratic Party of Washington $10,500 Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) $9,500 Barack Obama $5,600 EMILY’s List $5,000 ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) $4,300 Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) $4,250

Stroum was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Nov. 20, 2009, by a voice vote — not an uncommon practice for confirming appointees.

This is the second time in a week that an Obama-appointed ambassador made national headlines.

In an unrelated move, U.S. Ambassador to China John Huntsman submitted a letter of resignation to Obama earlier this week.

Huntsman, the former Republican governor of Utah, bundled more than $500,000 to help Obama’s general election opponent, Republican John McCain. Huntsman is the only McCain bundler to be nominated by Obama for an ambassadorship.

Huntsman is now reportedly considering challenging Obama for the presidency in 2012.

Read more about Obama’s other ambassador picks who have money-in-politics’ pasts as part of our ongoing coverage here.

Center for Responsive Politics senior researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

·

·

·

·

·

Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜

Read more OpenSecrets News & Analysis: