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The US State Department is investigating allegations that Donald Trump-appointed attendees stole gift bags intended for foreign dignitaries attending the 2020 G7 summit, which was later canceled due to the Covid pandemic. 19.
A. New York Times The investigation revealed that expensive gifts, intended for foreign leaders who were supposed to attend the summit at Camp David, disappeared. The State Department Inspector General is investigating these allegations.
The gift bags contained dozens of expensive items purchased with government funds and included leather wallets, pewter trays and marble trinket boxes adorned with the presidential seal or the signatures of Trump and his wife, Melania Trump.
The report also revealed that the Inspector General is still searching for the whereabouts of a $ 5,800 bottle of Japanese whiskey delivered to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, Pompeo has said he never received it.
The State Department also wants to know the whereabouts of a 22-karat gold chain given to an official.
the Times reported that nonpartisan career officials saw their politically appointed colleagues taking the gift bags from the department’s gift vault during the transition to the Biden administration.
Several ethicists said the missing gift bags reflected larger issues with the Trump presidency.
Stanley M Brand, a criminal defense attorney, ethicist and former senior House attorney, was quoted as saying, “Whether this was indifference, carelessness, or the Great Train Robbery, it shows such an arrogant attitude. towards the law and the regular process of government. “
Meanwhile, the State Department said in a statement that it “takes seriously its role in reporting the disposition of certain gifts received by United States government employees” and that it was “investigating the whereabouts of gifts that are not held in public. account and the circumstances that led to his disappearance. “
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