US envoy to Singapore threatened staff, wasted money and created culture of ‘fear’, watchdog finds
- A State Department report said Jonathan Kaplan also ‘developed poor relationships with some Singaporean ministries’, hurting efforts to advance US interests in the city
- It added Kaplan ran afoul of government regulations on funding as he spent more than US$27,000 for a party on a warship
The State Department’s inspector general said embassy employees interviewed as part of its regular review process “described a fear, and even direct threats, of reprisal” from Jonathan Kaplan, an entrepreneur and Democratic campaign donor who was confirmed as ambassador in late 2021.
Kaplan also “developed poor relationships with some Singaporean ministries,” which hurt progress on US efforts in the strategically important Asia-Pacific city state, the report found.
The findings will draw fresh scrutiny to successive presidents’ long-time practice of distributing ambassador jobs to campaign donors and political allies who have no diplomatic experience.
That was the case with Kaplan, an entrepreneur who invented the now-defunct Pure Digital Technologies’s Flip Video pocket camera and ventured into fast-casual dining ventures, but had never served in a government role. According to the Campaign Legal Centre, he donated more than US$100,000 to Democratic campaigns in the 10 years before his appointment.
Kaplan said in a statement that he takes “full responsibility for quickly addressing the concerns and recommendations found in the report.”