WASHINGTON – Swords from Saudi Arabia, a model of the Taj Mahal from India and a gold golf driver from Japan are among them foreign gifts received by Donald Trump as President but not reported House Democrats claimed Friday.
Trump and his family failed to report more than 100 gifts worth more than $250,000 to the State Department from 2017-2019. according to the report of an inspector general. Another April 2022 report found that the department could not fully account for gifts received in 2020, the final year of the former president’s term.
Releasing the results, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said, warned that when presidents fail to report valuable gifts they receive in officeforeigners could influence US politics.
The General Services Administration and the National Archives and Records Administration are said to be pursuing the gifts reported by the State Department, which the report said did not happen.
“Today’s preliminary findings point yet again to the Trump administration’s flagrant disregard for the rule of law and systematic misuse of large gifts from foreign governments, including many lavish personalized gifts that far exceed the legal value limit but have never been reported — some are still missing today,” Raskin said.
A Trump spokesman, Steven Cheung, disputed the report’s findings.
“Misery losers like Jamie Raskin – who has been reduced to a low-level political player – and House Democrats are working with their Deep State accomplices at NARA to lie about the facts,” Cheung said. “You know that many items have been received either before or after administration.”
what are the presents
Committee Democrats reported a variety of gifts to Trump and his family that lawmakers claim were reported to the State Department but were then not purchased by the recipient or given to government agencies.
The Democrats’ gifts said the agencies could not find or find receipts for included:
From Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates: Items totaling more than $45,000, including three for Trump and one for his wife Melania. Gifts included a $24,000 Saudi dagger and two sets of swords worth $8,800.
From El Salvador: A “larger than life” painting of Trump.
From Japan: a $3,755 gold golf driver from around the time Trump was elected president in November 2016, and other golf clubs later, including a $460 putter and another driver inside Value of $3,040.
From India: 17 items totaling $47,000 including a vase worth $8,500, a model of the Taj Mahal worth $4,600 and cufflinks worth $1,900.
What should be reported?
The Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act requires the disclosure of all gifts over a minimum value to the President, the Vice President and their families. The White House compiles the list and submits it to the State Department, which publishes an annual list.
The government usually withholds the gifts unless the recipients buy them. For example, General Services Administration records are displayed Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law who was also a senior adviserShe bought five Saudi gifts.
But Committee Democrats say the White House has asked the National Archives to return a number of foreign gifts. According to the report, the archives had no record of other gifts.
Raskin sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken a letter on Friday asking for help investigating the gifts.
“The government’s failure to disclose foreign gifts to former President Trump and his family raises questions about whether these and other gifts may have been used by foreign governments to influence U.S. policy,” Raskin said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump has failed to report foreign gifts as President: Democrats
Source : news.yahoo.com