Just days after Kimberly Guilfoyle left her post as U.S. ambassador to Greece under a cloud, another Trump-appointed dip...

Just days after Kimberly Guilfoyle left her post as U.S. ambassador to Greece under a cloud, another Trump-appointed diplomat is now under scrutiny. Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Trump's special envoy to Syria and Iraq, faces questions over potential conflicts of interest tied to a proposed $15 billion oil pipeline connecting Iraq and Syria. Barrack reportedly supported the participation of a company run by one of his personal business associates in the project, raising concerns about whether he violated U.S. federal ethics rules governing senior officials. His diplomatic portfolio covers U.S. relations with Turkey and Washington's policy toward Syria and Iraq, putting him directly in a position to influence the exact regional energy discussions the pipeline depends on. In July, Iraq and Syria signed memorandums of understanding with a consortium that includes California-based investment firm TI Capital, Chevron, and Qatar's UCC Holding, for preliminary technical and financial feasibility studies on restoring the pipeline. No final agreement to build has been signed yet. The project would create an alternative export route for Iraqi oil through Syria, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical energy shipping corridors. The central question facing investigators and ethics watchdogs is whether Barrack's backing for his associate's company, while serving as the U.S. envoy responsible for the very region where the pipeline would be built, constitutes a violation of conflict of interest rules. No formal charges have been filed. The back-to-back controversies surrounding Trump-appointed ambassadors are drawing attention to the administration's diplomatic appointments across the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. #TomBarrack #USForeignPolicy #EasternMediterranean