Jonathan Saidel as Ambassador to Malta? A big union wants Biden to appoint the former Philly controller | Clout
Malta, an island nation of about 450,000 people in the Mediterranean Sea, 60 miles south of Italy, is slightly smaller than Philadelphia in square miles.
Jonathan Saidel has held many titles: four-term Philadelphia city controller, private-practice attorney, and unofficial master of ceremonies at more Democratic City Committee events than Clout can count.
Next up: His excellency, United States Ambassador to Malta?
That’s what Lee Saunders, national president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also known as AFSCME, recommended to President Joe Biden in a Feb. 2 letter.
Saunders, who declined to be interviewed, wrote that Saidel’s career achievements have “shown the leadership skills, the dynamism and the spirit of democratic values that he would bring to the role of ambassador to Malta.”
Saidel didn’t respond to Clout’s requests for comment. We suspect the first rule of Ambassador Club is you don’t talk about Ambassador Club.
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Former President Donald Trump in 2018 appointed Christine Toretti, a member of the Republican National Committee from Western Pennsylvania, as ambassador to Malta. But the U.S. Senate never confirmed her for the post.
Malta, an island nation of about 450,000 people in the Mediterranean Sea, 60 miles south of Italy, is slightly smaller than Philadelphia in square miles.
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, Philly’s Democratic Party chair and longtime friend to both Biden and Saidel, endorsed AFSCME’s recommendation this week.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Brady said. “Why not. He needs something to do.”