The State Department Inspector General has released the lengthy report that prompted Cynthia Stroum to resign her post last month as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. In the report, working conditions at the U.S. embassy under Stroum are described as “extremely difficult, unhappy, and uncertain” while Stroum’s management style is described as “aggressive, bullying, hostile, and intimidating,” prompting several embassy employees to seek a transfer to Iraq or Afghanistan. Stroum, whose comment to staff that the “President gave her the right to read any email messages that originated at Embassy Luxembourg…some interpreted…as a direct warning that she would have access to messages to OIG or other Department offices,” also elected to dispose of surplus funds by purchasing “$3,400 in wine and liquor,” personally selected an embassy chef from a cooking school in Switzerland, had employees screen “200 houses” for a potential new Ambassador’s residence, and had the embassy reimburse her for personal purchases against the instruction of the State Department.
The U.S. Air Force has retracted last week’s guidance on potential punitive measures for employees (and their families) who access WikiLeak’ed classified documents. An Air Force spokesman acknowledged the memo had been disseminated, but claimed it “had not been coordinated with headquarters and had been withdrawn from the Air Force Materiel Command website.” The memo had declared that Air Force employees and their families would be subject to prosecution under the Espionage Act if they viewed classified documents leaked by WikiLeaks. (more…)
