Missing 7860 whisky bottle among the extravagant gifts given to Trumps White House

By Matthew Lee August 5, 2021 â€" 1.06pm

Washington: The State Department is looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $US6000 bottle of whisky given more than two years ago to then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan. Pompeo knows nothing about the gift or an inquiry, a representative said.

In a notice filed in the Federal Register, the department said it could find no trace of the bottle’s whereabouts and that there is an “ongoing inquiry” into what happened to the booze, valued at $US5800 ($7860). The department reported the investigation in its annual accounting of gifts given to senior US officials by foreign governments and leaders.

The department is required to record gifts given to US officials and keep track of their disposition. Recipients of gifts worth more than $US390 have the option of turning them over to the National Archives or another government entity or purchasing them for personal use by reimbursing the Treasury Department for their value.

Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said he is not aware of the missing bottle. Credit:AP

The Japanese whisky was presented to Pompeo in June 2019, presumably when he visited the country that month for a Group of 20 summit that was also attended by president Donald Trump. But unlike other gifts, the department said there was no record of what had become of the bottle.

“The department is looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry,” it said in the Federal Register notice. The notice offered no additional detail. A representative for Pompeo said Pompeo “has no knowledge of the gift and has not been contacted by anyone regarding an investigation of it”.

Pompeo also reported receiving two carpets worth a total of $US19,400 from the president of Kazakhstan and the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates. Both floor coverings were transferred to the General Services Administration, the notice said.

The filing said Trump and his wife, Melania, received more than $US120,000 worth of presents from foreign leaders in 2019, compared with $US88,200 the year before. In Trump’s first year in office, in 2017, they reported receiving more than $US140,000 in gifts.

There was no significant common theme to the 2019 gifts. At least three foreign leaders â€" from Australia, Egypt and Vietnam â€" presented Trump with photographs or portraits of himself that collectively were valued at more than $US10,000.

Trump received a painting of himself on “dual pane glass” from then-Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong that was worth an estimated $US5250, according to the filing. It also says Trump got a “large double frame carved from black stone with image of President Donald J. Trump in precious metal on one side and the coat of arms of Egypt on the reverse” worth $US4450 from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave Trump a framed photo of the President and his wife worth $US470.

Scott Morrison and then president Donald Trump exchanged a number of gifts. Credit:AP

It has been reported that Morrison also gave a small bronze statue of Australian World War II hero Leslie “Bull” Allen, and Melania Trump a pair of gold stud earrings

Trump gave Morrison more than $10,000 worth of gifts, including a $3700 framed map of the Coral Sea, a $3700 model of the USS Canberra, a $3000 calfskin leather photo album and a $1200 Paul Revere silver Tiffany bowl.

Other more expensive gifts Trump received included an Ottoman Empire rifle valued at $US8500 from the prime minister of Bulgaria, a bronze sculpture of an Arabian horse from the crown prince of Bahrain worth $US7200 and a gold, onyx, emerald and diamond statue of an Arabian oryx worth $US6300 from the emir of Qatar.

All of those gifts, including the portraits and photograph, were turned over to the National Archives, according to the report.

Another significant recipient of gifts was now-retired General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command until March 2019; that command oversees American military operations in the Middle East. The government of Qatar lavished Votel with nearly $US37,000 in luxury watches in 2019, including one Rolex timepiece valued at $US14,995, according to the report. Votel turned those watches over to the GSA.

AP

Share this post