The State Dept. inspector general is investigating whether Trump admin. officials helped themselves to expensive Trump-branded gifts meant for foreign dignitaries.
Pompeo said he never received it."It never got to me," he told Fox News this year. “I have no idea how the State Department lost this thing — although I saw enormous incompetence at the State Department during my time there.”
The inspector general's office declined to comment. Trump's office also did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment. A spokeswoman for Trump did not return several messages from The New York Times seeking a response, the newspaper said. A State official said the department"takes seriously its role in reporting the disposition of certain gifts received by U.S. government employees. These gifts are the property of the American people and must be accounted for accurately."
The official said the department is searching for"the whereabouts of gifts that are unaccounted for and the circumstances that led to their disappearance." The State Department's office of protocol is required to record gifts given to U.S. officials and keep track of their disposition. Recipients have the option of turning gifts of a certain value over to the National Archives or another government entity or purchasing them for personal use by reimbursing the Treasury Department for their value., including a 9 mm pistol from the Czech Republic and a hardwood bench carved to resemble a jaguar from Brazil. They were sent to the National Archives.
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