The United States is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a $ 5,800 bottle of whiskey given by Japan to Mike Pompeo.

The US State Department is investigating the disappearance of a bottle of whiskey worth nearly $ 6,000 The Japanese government presented it to then-Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo two years ago.

Japanese officials delivered the bottle to the State Department on June 24, 2019, Reported The New York Times, Noted that Pompeo was visiting Saudi Arabia at the time.

The former officer knew nothing about it, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The announcement was made in the Federal Register, the official gazette of the United States Government. The State Department said it could not find any clues about the bottle’s location and was “continuing to investigate” what happened. The State Department said in its annual report on gifts given to top US officials by foreign governments and leaders.

The State Department should record and monitor gifts given to U.S. officials.

Government officials are entitled to hold gifts of less than $ 390. Anything beyond that amount can be purchased for personal use and their value can be refunded to the Treasury., Or issued to the National Archives or other government agencies.

The New York newspaper quoted unidentified officials The government never received payment for the missing bottle.

Japanese whiskey was valued at $ 5,800 and was introduced to Pompeo in June 2019, presumably when he traveled to the country for the 20th Group Summit that month.It was attended by then-President Donald Trump, but unlike other gifts, the department said there was no record of what happened in the bottle.

“The department is investigating the matter and is continuing to investigate,” the federal registry said in a statement.

No additional details in the announcement. Pompeo’s representative told the former secretary he “did not know about the gift and no one had contacted him.”

The issue of whiskey came to light in the State Department’s annual accounts of gifts given by foreign governments and leaders to US officials.

And Pompeo It was reported that Kazakhstan received two rugs for a total of $ 19,400 from the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates.. Both rugs were transferred to the Public Services Administration.

The presentation says Trump and his wife, Melania, received more than $ 120,000 in gifts from foreign leaders in 2019. Compared to 88,200 in the previous year. In the first year of the Republican Party, in 2017, they announced that they had received more than $ 140,000 in prizes.

(With information from AP and AFP)

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