Former U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson, when he retired from the StateDepartment in 2016, was celebrated for his distinguished 34-year-longcareer, including assignments in perilous countries like Pakistan and theUnited Arab Emirates, as well as various high-profile roles. At one point,Secretary of State John Kerry even praised him as one of the country’sexceptional diplomats. However, years later, federal agencies areinvestigating Olson for alleged violations of diplomatic principles,protocols, and other misconduct.
According to The Washington Post’s report, documents gathered in courtsuggest that the Department of State’s Inspector General had beeninvestigating Olson over allegations that the Emir of Dubai had given him$60,000 worth of diamond jewelry as a gift for his girl friend during histenure in Pakistan, but Olson did not report this to the State Department.
Additionally, the documents also allege that Olson had clear extramaritalrelations with a Pakistani journalist during his assignment in Pakistan,which the FBI had previously investigated. There is a possibility of a6-month sentence for these allegations. The U.S. State Departmentspokesperson Jennifer McQuiston has also denied commenting on Olson’s case.
FBI notes also indicate that Olson had arranged a $25,000 tuition feepayment for his girlfriend, Pakistani-American trader, to enable hisPakistani TV reporter girlfriend, Mona Habib, to go to New York and studyat the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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Records also reveal that Richard Olson was involved in a complex affairduring his assignment, which posed a risk to his security clearance. From2012 to 2015, during his assignment in Pakistan, he went on dates withmultiple women, even though his wife was also a U.S. diplomat at the time,serving as an ambassador in Libya
