The administration of former President Donald Trump is embroiled in yet another controversy as of late. A new report reveals that the Trump administration did not provide an accounting of the gifts they received from foreign governments when they left office.
A report by the New York Times reveals that the Trump administration did not provide the US State Department with an accounting of the gifts given to the former president, former vice president Mike Pence, and other officials of the administration back in 2020 before leaving office. Because of this, the State Department could not fully account for the gifts the officials received from foreign governments.
This marks the latest incident involving the former president’s administration’s penchant for disregarding laws and rules on the government’s operations. This incident also poses a challenge as to whether anything out of the ordinary took place, according to journalist Michael Schmidt.
Former chief ethics lawyer of the Bush administration Richard Painter blasted the latest revelation. Painter said the incident was “flagrant and terrible.”
“Either it was really stupid or really corrupt,” said Painter.
The incident with the State Department is the latest instance of Trump flouting ethics laws during his presidency. The State Department’s Inspector General found back in November that tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts to Trump administration officials were reportedly missing, according to the report.
This included a bottle of Japanese Suntory whiskey given to now-former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among other gifts to Trump State Department officials.
Trump also faces the January 6 congressional committee’s investigation closing in on him. While the panel may have enough evidence to make a criminal referral of the former president to the Justice Department, a report by the New York Times reveals that the committee is holding back.
Schmidt and Luke Broadwater reported that the committee’s leaders are split on whether to criminally refer Trump to the DOJ. This is due to concerns that this may interfere with the department’s ongoing probe into the former president. This is despite garnering enough evidence to do so, with concerns that it may also backfire.