Michael McFaul: Ukraine scandal proves we need to clean up US diplomacy

This week, Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, found himself giving testimony to the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives. He explained in considerable detail how he had come to play an intimate role in the Trump administration’s efforts to leverage U.S. relations with Ukraine to the private advantage of President Trump. Sondland played a central role in executing this corrupt quid pro quo, a strange assignment for anyone — but made all the stranger by the fact that, until a little more than a year ago, Sondland, the founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels, had zero experience as a diplomat.

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