When Richard G. Olson Jr. retired from the State Department in 2016, he was praised by colleagues for an honorable 34-year career that included prominent appointments as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as dangerous assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Rick is simply one of our most distinguished diplomats,” said John F. Kerry, former Secretary of State, in a statement.
Federal Investigation into Olson’s Conduct
Previously undisclosed records presented in court revealed that the State Department’s inspector general investigated Olson for not reporting a $60,000 diamond jewelry gift from a prince of Dubai to his mother-in-law. As part of a broader investigation, he was also questioned by the FBI regarding his extramarital affair with a journalist working in Pakistan while serving as U.S. Ambassador in Islamabad, according to the documents.
Olson’s Romantic and Legal Affairs
The records indicate that Olson had a complicated romantic life that could make him vulnerable to blackmail. While serving in Pakistan from 2012 to 2015, he dated multiple women even though he was married to another American diplomat who was then serving as Ambassador to Libya, according to court documents submitted by his attorney. Olson reported to the FBI that he had informed the CIA station chief in Islamabad about his dating habits, but the court records indicate that he did not inform U.S. diplomatic security officials as required by the State Department’s counterintelligence regulations.
Olson’s Charges and Trial
A U.S. District Court judge in Washington said that Olson, 63, will be sentenced on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty last year to two petty offenses. In the first charge, Olson admitted that when he was U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan, he failed to disclose receiving an $18,000 first-class ticket to travel to London for a job interview with a Gulf investment firm. In the second charge, he admitted to unlawfully lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of the Qatari government in 2017, violating the federal “cooling-off” law that prohibits him from doing so for a year after retiring from the State Department.
The Impact of Charges on Olson
No charges were brought regarding the diamonds or tuition fees for his girlfriend, but the Justice Department argued concerning Olson’s sentencing that these incidents demonstrate a pattern of unethical behavior. In court filings, prosecutors described the gifts from the prince as “clearly excessive and inappropriate” and accused Olson of lying to evade accountability.
According to federal sentencing guidelines, Olson could face up to six months in prison, although his attorneys stated he should not serve any time behind bars. “His career and service to his country have been nothing but honorable,” wrote J. Michael Hannon, one of his attorneys, in a court memo, asserting that the allegations against him were unjust. Hannon declined to comment for the press and did not respond to a list of written questions.
Tightening Foreign Influence Laws
In recent years, the Justice Department has ramped up enforcement of foreign influence laws. Members of Congress have also expanded the scope of restricting retired U.S. military personnel from working as consultants or contractors for foreign powers covertly.
Olson’s Legal and Romantic Troubles
Olson’s legal and romantic troubles began after he took office as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan in 2012. U.S.-Pakistan relations were in disarray following the bold U.S. raid into the country the previous year that killed al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. Pakistan also closed the ground supply routes for the war in Afghanistan in retaliation for a NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
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Olson’s primary task was to ease tensions with the Pakistani military and the country’s powerful intelligence chiefs. He also began dating Mona Habib, a young television correspondent working in the country, according to court records. They dated for two years but broke up in late 2014 after Habib, a British citizen, discovered that the ambassador was cheating on her and his wife, as Olson’s lawyers acknowledged in court documents. “Ms. Habib believed they were in an exclusive relationship, while the ambassador was not under the same impression,” the lawyers wrote.
Olson’s Assistance to Habib
They resumed contact after a few months. Habib was accepted into the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2015 but could not afford the $93,000 she needed. Olson agreed to help her by introducing her to Imad Zoebari, a Pakistani-American businessman with high-level business and political connections in Pakistan, China, and the Middle East, according to records.
Zoebari had never heard of Habib before, according to records, but within days offered to pay $25,000 to cover tuition expenses and arrange a $50,000 loan. Records show he sent a $20,000 check to Columbia University and $5,000 to Habib but did not fulfill his promise of providing a loan. Zoebari was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2021 in a separate case after pleading guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and other charges. Zoebari’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
The Ongoing Relationship Between Olson and Habib
Emails submitted to the court indicate that the ambassador and journalist still had feelings for each other. “Our breakup was one of the hardest times of my life,” Habib wrote on June 16, 2015, while arranging the tuition deal. “I knew how you acted in your past relationships and still see you. I didn’t care because of how you made me feel loved and special and something I had never opposed before.”
“I’m glad we’re still friends,” Olson responded. “I care deeply about you as well.”
In a brief phone interview, Habib declined to answer questions about her relationship with Olson, saying, “I’m tired of these salacious rumors.” She requested a list of questions in writing but did not respond.
Improper Reporting and Legal Investigation
Olson’s lawyer did not respond to The Washington Post’s questions about whether he properly reported his relationship with Habib or how many other women he met while in Pakistan. Jennifer McKeown, a State Department spokesperson, declined to comment on the Olson case.
State Department Investigation into the Diamonds
In 2014, someone provided information to the State Department’s inspector general that 11 years earlier, while Olson was serving as the head of the U.S. consulate in Dubai, a UAE prince presented him with a velvet-lined box, according to records. The box contained four diamonds set in white gold – a pendant, ring, and a pair of earrings – which federal officials later appraised at $60,000, according to court documents. The name of the prince was not mentioned; Dubai had seen the presence of two different princes since 2003.
According to the foreign gifts and decorations law in effect at the time, U.S. officials were required to report gifts worth more than $285 and could only keep them if they compensated the federal government for their fair value.
Olson did none of that. He told State Department investigators that the prince presented the diamonds not to him but to his wife’s mother, who was living with him in Dubai, according to correspondence from State Department officials and other documents provided by his lawyers. He said the prince wanted to express his gratitude to his mother-in-law for coming to Dubai to help care for the ambassador’s children.
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Deborah Jones, then Olson’s wife, was based in Washington as a senior official in the State Department, overseeing the Office of Gulf Affairs. The department also placed Jones under investigation because she oversaw U.S. policy in the region and had previously served as deputy chief of mission in the United Arab Emirates, according to records.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Jones defended the jewelry as a legitimate personal gift to her mother and said that she and Olson did nothing wrong by not reporting it. She mentioned that State Department officials questioned her about the diamonds while she was serving as the ambassador to Libya in 2014, describing the investigation as “very humiliating” and “unpleasant.” She said her mother considered the diamonds a genuine personal gift from the prince, adding, “I find it very humiliating to be pulled into this because I am her daughter.”
The State Department closed the investigation without taking action against Jones or Olson after they successfully argued that Jones’ mother was not a dependent for tax purposes and therefore not subject to gift rules, according to records. However, in a letter dated September 2016, State Department attorneys asked the couple to voluntarily relinquish the diamonds, stating, “It is extremely frustrating that you were not concerned enough about the gift to seek advice from the ethics office.”
In a letter dated November 2016, Olson informed the State Department that he could not force his wife’s mother to turn over the diamonds “which I believe she would consider theft.” Jones told the Washington Post that she also unsuccessfully tried to convince her mother to get rid of the jewelry. “I said to her, ‘Mom, look, this is causing a real problem, and it’s causing a problem for me.’ But she said it’s hers.”
Marriage and Current Life
At the same time, Olson rekindled his relationship with a partner, who completed her studies at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, according to documents submitted by his attorney. They married in June 2019 and now live in New Mexico.
Correction
In an earlier version of this article, Mona Habib was described as a Pakistani journalist. She is a British citizen who worked as a journalist in Pakistan.
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