2024-03-02 04:54:01
The White House said, Friday, that the US government takes seriously a report by an internal oversight body, stating that the US ambassador in Singapore threatened his employees and failed to submit travel expenses amounting to about 48,000 dollars on time, or with the appropriate documents.
The State Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a report that Ambassador Jonathan Kaplan had poor relations with some ministries in Singapore, and was often unprepared to deal with problems.
“The Office of the Inspector General concluded that the Ambassador was not a model of integrity, strategic planning, cooperation, or communication,” he added, urging the State Department to evaluate his leadership and management, and “take corrective action if appropriate.”
He continued: “Many employees spoke of their fear, and even direct threats of retaliation from the ambassador, and described his behavior with employees as belittling them and intimidating them.”
The report indicated the ambassador’s view that “although there was a difficult transition period when he took office, morale improved under his leadership, and he was confident that he had gained the trust of his employees.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “The president always wants his representatives to treat people with dignity and respect. He is comfortable that the State Department is taking this matter seriously.”
The report found that Kaplan did not follow several State Department travel policies, did not use a U.S. government-contracted travel agency and did not comply with U.S. law requiring the use of national airlines.
“The OIG found approximately $48,000 in outstanding travel obligations extending back to December 2021 that either had not been submitted for payment or lacked sufficient supporting documentation to pay the travel claim,” he said.
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