- A congressional investigation is looking for gifts from foreign governments that Trump and his family received.
- According to The Washington Post, the gifts included diamond earrings and golf clubs as well as a Putin soccer ball.
- The House Oversight Committee is requesting information on whether the gifts were transferred the National Archives.
Investigators from Congress are looking for dozens of gifts that were given by foreign governments to Donald Trump’s family and former President. The Washington PostThree sources were cited as having knowledge of the matter.
The House Oversight Committee requested the National Archives to verify that they received the gifts from Trump’s White House. This was required by law, according to the paper.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the gifts include earrings made of diamonds, golf clubs, a large painting by Trump, a collar of the ancient Egyptian god Horus in gold, a 2018 World Cup soccerball from Russia President Vladimir Putin and a collar of King Abdulaziz al Saud worth $6,400 from Saudi Arabia.
According to sources, the total value of these items is approximately $50,000
The paper did not clarify why the committee asked for these items or how far they were from being found.
The Post was not allowed to speak with the spokesperson of the committee, except to inform that the investigation is ongoing.
The Oversight committee conducted a summer investigation to see if Trump had followed the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. This law prohibits government officials keeping gifts from foreign governments of more than $415 unless they are paying for them.
The Post reports that even though there is no criminal penalty for improperly conserving gifts, some ethics experts believe it might be appropriate depending on the circumstances.
“If you have a very valuable item that you are obligated by law to turn over to the federal government and you fail to do that, I don’t know that would preclude a criminal action — we’ve just never seen it done,” Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel at CREW, an ethics watchdog organization, told the paper.
Also, officials are required to report gifts received from foreigners exceeding $415.
The New York TimesIt was previously reported that Trump’s administration didn’t provide any information on gifts from foreign governments in 2020. The State Department stated that it couldn’t compile an accurate list.
Trump administration has a history for poor record-keeping practices. A Trump adviser said that the committee also asked for records about Trump’s record-keeping practices.
This probe takes place amid an FBI investigation into Trump’s handling classified documents. This culminated with the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, which uncovered treasure troves Sensitive and classified documents
