The US State Department launched an investigation to find out where the $ 5,800 bottle of elite whiskey, donated at one time to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, went.
According to the records in the relevant registries, the gift was presented by Pompeo on behalf of the Japanese government in 2019. There is also a mark – “the order is unknown.”
Gifts can be received by American officials and statesmen. But if the value of a gift exceeds $ 390, then it can either be redeemed by depositing its actual value from your pocket into the treasury, or transferred to the National Archives.
After the hints of misappropriation of whiskey sounded offensive to Pompeo, his lawyer first made a statement in the press. He stated that his client did not know anything about this bottle or about its search, and that Pompeo did not remember such a gift at all, Fox News reported.
Then the ex-Secretary of State spoke personally on one of the American TV channels, hinting that the loss was the result of the incompetence of the current team of the US Foreign Ministry.
– If it was a box of Diet Coke, I would have pounced on it. – joked Pompeo, saying that he would be happy to help find the bottle.
