WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s internal watchdog has concluded there was an “appearance of undue influence or favoritism” but no actual wrongdoing in the way several high-profile investigations of alleged misconduct by U.S. diplomats were handled.

In a report released Thursday, the department’s inspector general said it had found such appearances in three of eight cases it had looked at, including one involving a U.S. ambassador in Europe alleged to have solicited prostitutes in a park. That investigation was halted before any evidence was found to support or dispute the allegations after the diplomat was summoned to Washington and denied the charges.