According to a US official document made public on Wednesday, the US State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whisky presented to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the Japanese government.
The whisky was given to Pompeo by the Japanese government on June 24, according to a letter from the State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol dated July 22 documenting gifts to U.S. federal employees from foreign governments recorded in 2019.
The donation was classified as "Disposition Unknown." in the notification, which is set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday.
A footnote added, "The Department is looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry,"
The New York Times was the first to report on the probe, noting that US officials are only allowed to keep gifts for less than $390 and that if they want to keep gifts worth more than that, they must purchase them.
Pompeo's lawyer, William Burck, responded when asked for comment: "Mr. Pompeo has no recall of receiving the bottle of whiskey and is unaware of its fate. He is also unaware of any investigation into its whereabouts. He has no idea how this bottle of whisky ended up in his hands."
A request for more information from the State Department was not returned.
The bottle was never paid for by the US government, according to two unidentified people briefed on the case, and the State Department had requested its inspector general to investigate what happened to it, according to the New York Times.
The gift was given to the State Department by Japanese officials on June 24, 2019, when Pompeo was traveling in Saudi Arabia, according to the Times report.
In April, Pompeo, who served in former President Donald Trump's administration, was accused of breaking federal ethics rules governing the use of taxpayer-funded resources when he and his wife asked State Department employees to perform personal tasks more than 100 times, according to a government watchdog report. find out more
Pompeo vehemently refuted the allegation, calling it politically driven and riddled with inaccuracies.
Pompeo served until January 20, when Trump, a Republican, resigned after losing the November election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Pompeo is rumored to be one of a few Republicans eyeing the presidency in 2024, though he has not confirmed this.
