Jacobson Defends Dell’s Work With Bechtel

The US ambassador in Kosovo, Tracey Jacobson, says that after her diplomatic mission ends in Kosovo, she will find it hard to find an equally interesting job.

.@BledSyla I hope for at least one more tour with @StateDept -- either overseas or at home. It will be hard to top #Kosovo!

— Amb. Tracey Jacobson (@AmbTracey) April 15, 2014

She has also defended her colleague, Christopher Dell, who, since his mission ended in Kosovo, has been employed by the same company that he lobbied to get an 820-million-dollar tender to construct the Albania-Kosovo “Patriotic Highway” when he was ambassador.

.@BledSyla No rules against private employment after retirement. Employees must inform HQ if they begin post-retirement job consults.

— Amb. Tracey Jacobson (@AmbTracey) April 15, 2014

 The fact that Dell is now employed by a private company does not represent a conflict of interest, according Jacobson.

On Twitter, Jacobson was questioned by the same person regarding Dell’s eployment by Bechtel, which has also won a bid worth 600 million dollars to construct the Kosovo-Macedonia highway. “No rules against private employment after retirement”, Jacobson wrote.

According to her, employees of the US State Department need only inform HQ if they intend to start to work as consultants after retirement .

“Employees must also recuse themselves from further involvement with the company they hope to join once they start consultations”, Jacobson added a couple of minutes ago.

On Monday, the Balkan Investigative and Reporting Network and Britain’s Guardian newspaper published an investigation, which showed...