There's apparently a right way and a wrong way to get an ambassadorship out of a Trump campaign donation.
Doug Manchester, who spent two and a half years waiting for a confirmation hearing after President Trump nominated him to be the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, was recently pulled from the running for the role. But before that happened, it seems Manchester told the Republican National Committee he'd send over a hefty donation if it got his confirmation process moving, CBS News reports.
Manchester, like impeachment-embroiled U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, is a Trump supporter who donated $1 million to the president's inauguration fund. But unlike Sondland, Manchester's nomination never came to the Senate floor. He seemed to try and scoot it along by bringing a private jet full of supplies to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian hit the islands where he has a house — something that earned tweeted praised from Trump. And three days later, the RNC asked him for another donation.
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In an email, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel asked Manchester if he would "consider putting together $500,000 ... from your family," CBS News reports. Manchester wrote back saying "As you know I am not supposed to do any, but my wife is sending a contribution for $100,000." He then acknowledged that he'd passed a Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote and said "we need you to have the majority leader bring it to a majority vote." "Once confirmed," his "family will respond" to the donation request, Manchester continued.
An RNC spokesperson said the committee wasn't suggesting a donation would speed Manchester's confirmation and called his suggestion otherwise "totally inappropriate." Manchester also told CBS News that wasn't his or his wife's intentions with the donation. Read more at CBS News.
