Tag: GOP pay to play

GOP demanded $500K donation from Trump Bahamas ambassador during his Senate confirmation hearings

AlterNet logoNewly uncovered emails reveal that the Republican National Committee demanded that President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas donate $500,000 ahead of his Senate confirmation hearings.

CBS News reports that RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel asked billionaire Doug Manchester for more cash at a time when his confirmation as Bahamas ambassador had seemingly stalled.

“Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?” she asked him in an email.

View the complete November 18 article by Brad Reed from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

How rich people like Gordon Sondland buy their way to being US ambassadors – 4 questions answered

In every other developed democratic country, the role of ambassador, with only very rare exceptions, is given to career diplomats who have spent decades learning the art of international relations.

In the U.S., however, many ambassadors are untrained in diplomacy, and have simply bought their way into a prestigious post.

The involvement of the American ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, in the Ukraine scandal has prompted interest in the media and Congress in the role of non-career ambassadors like him.

View the complete November 18 article by Dennis Jett, Professor of International Affairs at Pennsylvania State University on the Conversation website here.