By Josh Lederman and Dareh Gregorian -
NBC News
The State Department inspector general is investigating whether former President Donald Trump's administration officials took expensive Trump-branded gifts intended for foreign dignitaries, as our sister network NBC News confirmed Tuesday.
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating whether Trump's political appointees removed the taxpayer-funded gifts from the State Department's gift vault in January and took them home, a department official with knowledge of the events said, who added that
the dollar value of the missing gifts is "significant
.
"
The latest investigation into the missing gifts was first reported by The New York Times.
The newspaper identified the missing items as gift bags destined for foreign leaders at a Group of Seven summit that was to be held at Camp David in 2020 but was canceled due to the pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump receives the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images
The gifts included leather briefcases, metal trays and marble boxes bearing the presidential seal or the signatures of Donald and Melania Trump
, as The New York Times reported.
In its investigation, the newspaper cited public documents from the federal government, interviews with current and former officials, and statements from various departments and agencies.
Also among the missing gifts during the Trump Administration is
a bottle of whiskey valued at $ 5,800,
which was given by the Japanese to then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, but which later disappeared.
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.
I saw enormous incompetence in the State Department during my time there. "
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The Office of the Inspector General declined to comment on the case.
Trump's office also did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.
A Trump spokeswoman also did not return multiple messages from The New York Times seeking an answer, according to the newspaper.
A state official said the department “takes seriously its role in reporting the disposition of certain gifts received by employees of the United States Government.
These gifts are the property of the American people and must be accurately accounted for. "
The official added that the department is looking for "where are the unaccounted for gifts and the circumstances that led to their disappearance."
[The senior general contacted China to assure him that Trump would not provoke a war, according to the book]
The State Department's protocol office is required to record gifts given to US officials and to keep an inventory.
Recipients have the option of delivering gifts of a certain value to the National Archives or another government entity or purchasing them for personal use by reimbursing the value to the Department of the Treasury.
According to the State Department,
Trump received several expensive gifts at his post, including a 9mm pistol from the Czech Republic
and a hardwood bench carved in the shape of a jaguar from Brazil.
These were sent to the National Archives.