Outgoing US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec speaks to Anthony Manduca about his Catholic faith, disappointment with the State Department, and continuing loyalty to Barack Obama.
US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec leaves office on Tuesday after being criticised by the State Department for spending too much time writing and speaking about his religious beliefs. His decision to resign, he says, was simply a matter of respect to US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Malta.
“I didn’t want any of those parties to feel as if they were stuck with a second hand car and they couldn’t trade it in for a shinier model,” he tells The Sunday Times.
The popular US representative to Malta had submitted his resignation on April 16, a week after an inspector general’s report chided him for his “unconventional approach to his role”.
Weeks later, Prof. Kmiec remains adamant he did nothing wrong by promoting Mr Obama’s inter-faith dialogue initiative while in Malta, which is exactly what the President wanted him to do.
Categories: Malta, United States
