$5,800 whiskey bottle, a present from Japan to Mike Pompeo, is lacking, US says

Written by Michael S. Schmidt
The State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whiskey the Japanese authorities gave to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019, in response to two folks briefed on the inquiry and a doc made public on Wednesday.
It was unclear whether or not Pompeo ever acquired the reward, as he was touring in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2019, the day that Japanese officers gave it to the State Department, in response to a division submitting on Wednesday within the Federal Register documenting presents that senior American officers acquired in 2019. Such officers are sometimes insulated by workers members who obtain presents and messages for them.
American officers can maintain presents which might be lower than $390. But if the officers need to maintain presents which might be over that value, they need to buy them. According to the submitting, the State Department mentioned the bottle was appraised at $5,800.
The division additionally took the weird step of noting that the whereabouts of the whiskey is unknown. Similar filings over the previous twenty years make no point out of any comparable investigations.
“The department is looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry,” the submitting mentioned.

Pompeo, by means of his lawyer William A. Burck, mentioned he had no recollection of receiving the bottle of whiskey, and didn’t have any data of what occurred to it or that there was a division inquiry into its whereabouts.
“He has no idea what the disposition was of this bottle of whiskey,” Burck mentioned.
Under the Constitution, it’s unlawful for an American official to just accept a present from a overseas authorities, and presents are thought of property of the U.S. authorities. The founders included the measure to cease overseas governments from gaining undue affect over American officers. Any officers caught accepting such presents can face civil penalties, or impeachment if they’re nonetheless in workplace.

The State Department supplied no different particulars in regards to the bottle or the investigation. According to 2 folks briefed on the matter, the U.S. authorities was by no means paid for the bottle and the division has requested its inspector basic to find out what occurred to it.
Trump administration officers routinely flouted tips about day-to-day authorities points like record-keeping and ethics, and paperwork filed for presents was usually incomplete.
This article initially appeared in The New York Times.