SEATTLE – A superstar donor of President Barack Obama's last campaign who later became ambassador to Luxembourg said Saturday that she has filed a rebuttal to an internal State Department review that found her tenure to be a disaster.Cynthia Stroum told The Associated Press that she did not know whether she could release details of the rebuttal publicly. She said that she was blindsided by the report, and that she wants to tell her side of the story eventually.The State Department report released Thursday said her year in Luxembourg was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor. It said things were so bad some staff requested transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan.She also reiterated a statement first released to The Seattle Times in which she said she focused on initiatives that were in the best interest of U.S.-Luxembourg relations."The initiatives that I chose to focus on were what I believed to be in the best interest of the relationship between Luxembourg and the United States, and I'm proud of the links connected especially with businesses here in my home state of Washington," she wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper.Stroum, 60, is the daughter of the late Sam Stroum, a Seattle philanthropist who made a fortune as an investor in the Schuck's Auto Supply.Sam Stroum was credited with saving the Seattle Symphony from bankruptcy and pushing the construction of Benaroya Hall, the symphony's home. He also served as president of the University of Washington Board of Regents.Cynthia Stroum is an investor in Washington state-based companies, including Starbucks. She established two foundations focusing on cancer research and served on the board of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.She was also a producer on the Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," which received a Tony nomination in 2004.Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., had vouched for Stroum at her confirmation hearing, saying that "she will be an outstanding representative for our country."As a fundraiser, Stroum ginned up at least $500,000 for Obama, putting her near the top of the campaign's money generators. Stroum also donated at least $13,800 to the campaigns of Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.The State Department report said Stroum stressed to embassy staffers "the importance she attaches to the perquisites of" being an ambassador. As such, she was particularly concerned about the state of the ambassador's residence, which was being renovated, it said.Embassy officials spent weeks trying to find her appropriate temporary housing, screening hundreds of properties. They found four that met her criteria, and she rejected all of them before finally settling on a residence.The report also found that she inappropriately spent $2,400 on a trip to Switzerland; that the embassy bought $3,400 in liquor and wine to use up its entertainment budget even though such year-end sprees are barred; and that Stroum was reimbursed for buying a new queen-sized bed, even though she had been provided with a king-sized one.Download Stay .Download I'm Drunk / I'm da Man .Radio Show (10 february 2008) .At Work (29 march 2008) .Tsume Tsume Tsume F
Luxembourg ambassador says she filed rebuttal
SEATTLE – A superstar donor of President Barack Obama's last campaign who later became ambassador to Luxembourg said Saturday that she has filed a rebuttal to an internal State Department review that found her tenure to be a disaster.Cynthia Stroum told The Associated Press that she did not know whether she could release details of the rebuttal publicly. She said that she was blindsided by the report, and that she wants to tell her side of the story eventually.The State Department report released Thursday said her year in Luxembourg was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor. It said things were so bad some staff requested transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan.She also reiterated a statement first released to The Seattle Times in which she said she focused on initiatives that were in the best interest of U.S.-Luxembourg relations."The initiatives that I chose to focus on were what I believed to be in the best interest of the relationship between Luxembourg and the United States, and I'm proud of the links connected especially with businesses here in my home state of Washington," she wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper.Stroum, 60, is the daughter of the late Sam Stroum, a Seattle philanthropist who made a fortune as an investor in the Schuck's Auto Supply.Sam Stroum was credited with saving the Seattle Symphony from bankruptcy and pushing the construction of Benaroya Hall, the symphony's home. He also served as president of the University of Washington Board of Regents.Cynthia Stroum is an investor in Washington state-based companies, including Starbucks. She established two foundations focusing on cancer research and served on the board of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.She was also a producer on the Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," which received a Tony nomination in 2004.Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., had vouched for Stroum at her confirmation hearing, saying that "she will be an outstanding representative for our country."As a fundraiser, Stroum ginned up at least $500,000 for Obama, putting her near the top of the campaign's money generators. Stroum also donated at least $13,800 to the campaigns of Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.The State Department report said Stroum stressed to embassy staffers "the importance she attaches to the perquisites of" being an ambassador. As such, she was particularly concerned about the state of the ambassador's residence, which was being renovated, it said.Embassy officials spent weeks trying to find her appropriate temporary housing, screening hundreds of properties. They found four that met her criteria, and she rejected all of them before finally settling on a residence.The report also found that she inappropriately spent $2,400 on a trip to Switzerland; that the embassy bought $3,400 in liquor and wine to use up its entertainment budget even though such year-end sprees are barred; and that Stroum was reimbursed for buying a new queen-sized bed, even though she had been provided with a king-sized one.Download Stay .Download I'm Drunk / I'm da Man .Radio Show (10 february 2008) .At Work (29 march 2008) .Tsume Tsume Tsume F