Trump slow to vet ultra-rich ambassador candidates

Source: Politico | January 15, 2017 | Tara Palmeri

Donors with past business troubles are scrambling for ‘cocktail ambassador’ posts.

Republican bundlers have been aggressively lobbying Donald Trump’s transition team for plum diplomatic posts in Western Europe — but so far have been met with almost no vetting, according to transition sources and top donors, despite the past business troubles of some contenders.

Trump’s moneyed donors are especially driven to jockey now for the ambassador positions, given that President Barack Obama’s current appointees have been notified that they have to vacate their posts by Jan. 20.

The president-elect has also accelerated the timetable for some of the highest-profile ambassador slots, having already named his representatives for Israel and China – longtime bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, respectively.

For the more swanky posts in Western Europe, top donors including New York real estate developer Peter Kalikow and financiers Lew Eisenberg and Duke Buchan have already received word from the Trump transition that they’re being considered for prime postings in Italy and Spain, top donor and transition sources say.

Despite the rush, candidates for the posts say they have not heard from transition officials about the intensive background checks which typically take about three months for the White House personnel office and FBI to review. This includes a 47-query questionnaire, a SF-86 form for security clearance and a SF-278 Public Financial Disclosure Report that details every stock, bond and asset.

Those close to the ambassador selection process are privately worrying that some of Trump’s high-net-worth donors with extensive business histories and little foreign policy experience may end up running into significant headwinds before the Senate during the confirmation process if the vetting process doesn’t crank up soon.

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