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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Open Thread: Anything Not Nailed Down…

Late Night Open Thread: Anything Not Nailed Down…

by Anne Laurie|  August 9, 202110:57 pm| 60 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trump Crime Cartel, Lock Him Up...Lock Them All Up

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The State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whiskey the Japanese government gave to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019, according to two people briefed on the inquiry. https://t.co/Dwc2nwI03K

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 4, 2021

Golly, who was in charge of the State Department? They sound really incompetent. https://t.co/UUDAf0ncVC

— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) August 5, 2021

It wasn't just the whiskey.

At least 20 types of items (meaning dozens, possibly hundreds of individual pieces) vanished from the State Department's gift vault as the Trump administration gave way to the Biden presidency.https://t.co/ghc2CNbBrX

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 8, 2021

‘GIFTGATE’ KEEPS ON GIVING: It wasn’t just the whiskey. At least 20 types of items (meaning dozens, possibly hundreds of individual pieces) vanished from the State Department’s gift vault as the Trump administration gave way to the Biden presidency, two U.S. officials familiar with the issue tell our own NAHAL TOOSI.

The State Department inspector general is investigating what happened to the gifts — including, infamously, a $5,800 bottle of Japanese whiskey. The IG’s office declined to comment.

While the whiskey was a gift from Japan’s government, most of the missing items are gifts the U.S. was intending to give other countries. Many bore Donald Trump’s insignia, the U.S. officials said…

Count on a whole bunch of obfuscation about ‘low-level staffers pilfering souvenirs’, but what I want to know is how many of these missing items are currently being displayed at Marred-A-Lago or related Trump-crony crime scenes. Hey, those things had Trump’s name on them — of course he figured they belonged to him…

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Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    mvr

    August 9, 2021 at 11:04 pm

    Well if Pompeo drank it it would explain a lot of what he said and did.

  2. 2.

    tom

    August 9, 2021 at 11:05 pm

    “Giftgate” – shades of the previous thread. I agree with the commenter who said that “-gate” needs to die.

  3. 3.

    StringOnAStick

    August 9, 2021 at 11:06 pm

    Hey, they had his name on them so if course he took them, right?  Probably stuffed them in a bag in a fit of pique after realizing the coup hadn’t worked and he was going to have to have to vacate the premises.

  4. 4.

    Leto

    August 9, 2021 at 11:07 pm

    Count on a whole bunch of obfuscation about ‘low-level staffers pilfering souvenirs’

    Better hope they never put them up on a place like eBay. People actually monitor those sites for stolen goods.

  5. 5.

    Jerzy Russian

    August 9, 2021 at 11:08 pm

    Christ, Trump branded items were given as official gifts on behalf of the country?

    Jesus, take the wheel!

  6. 6.

    Ken

    August 9, 2021 at 11:09 pm

    I see from that chyron that Iran’s nuclear program is still stalled. They’ve been ten weeks away from a nuclear weapon for, what, 30 years now?

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 9, 2021 at 11:11 pm

    Shocked, I tell you, that these people are thieves!

  8. 8.

    Emma from Miami

    August 9, 2021 at 11:11 pm

    Honestly, what makes me crazy is that all these people are goddamned petty thieves. None of them have the balls to go for the big time. (added) To be fair, they know that the Russians would feed them to a wood chipper while doing vodka shots off the belly buttons of $10 grand a night hookers.

  9. 9.

    StringOnAStick

    August 9, 2021 at 11:12 pm

    @mvr: While he was in office, Pompeo was hosting private dinners to burnish his chances to run for POTUS, you just know that’s where that bottle of whisky went.

  10. 10.

    sanjeevs

    August 9, 2021 at 11:13 pm

    Remember that picture of Trump staffers looting the Whitehouse

    Taxidermy and a Lincoln bust among departing White House effects – CNNPolitics

  11. 11.

    There are those who call me...tim... (Still posh)

    August 9, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    Ooooooh! That’s good boooooze!

    Really, though: Suntory, or what?

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2021 at 11:18 pm

    While the whiskey was a gift from Japan’s government, most of the missing items are gifts the U.S. was intending to give other countries. Many bore Donald Trump’s insignia, the U.S. officials said…

    Or career staff ‘accidentally’ encasing those insignia items in blocks of concrete and ‘somehow’ sending the blocks to Yucca Mountain.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2021 at 11:19 pm

    @Emma from Miami: There was plenty of grand larceny as well, all those mineral rights leases and of course let’s not forget that tax cut bill.

  14. 14.

    mvr

    August 9, 2021 at 11:20 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Very plausible, though since he had no compunction about billing us for those dinners, I can’t see him using the gift liquor when he could just buy what he wanted on our dime.

  15. 15.

    Jackie

    August 9, 2021 at 11:20 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: Whoever stole them gets grateful thanks from the countries slated to receive them!

  16. 16.

    sdhays

    August 9, 2021 at 11:25 pm

    The head of the USPS is funneling hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to his own company, that he still owns. And he still has a job.

  17. 17.

    JoyceH

    August 9, 2021 at 11:27 pm

    Since -gate comes from Watergate, the original scene of the crime, suggest it be replaced with ‘a-Lago’. So this would be Gift-a-Lago.

  18. 18.

    RaflW

    August 9, 2021 at 11:27 pm

    Said it the other day, and will say it again: Pompeo was Sec’y of State for 996 days (more or less).
    If Mike ‘saw a lot of incompetence’ there, and didn’t fix it — well then that’s a self-own, blowhard.

  19. 19.

    Edmund Dantes

    August 9, 2021 at 11:30 pm

    If I could find odds on it, I’d want to bet on Trump stiffing us for the food he ate at the White House that wasn’t for state dinners or official government functions.

    Presidents and families don’t get to eat free. They have to pay up for the food they eat for the time they are there.  They have great amazing chefs to make food at any time, but the actual ingredients have to be paid for by the president.

  20. 20.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    August 9, 2021 at 11:31 pm

    @Leto: as the late donald rumsfeld said of the looted iraqi antiquities museum, democracy is messy

  21. 21.

    James E Powell

    August 9, 2021 at 11:39 pm

    @sdhays:

    The fact that this gets no attention from anyone other than shrill commenters on an almost top 10,000 lefty blog is amazing to me.

    If it were a Democrat, the NYT building would have flames shooting out the windows until the person resigned or was fired.

  22. 22.

    Keith P.

    August 9, 2021 at 11:39 pm

    At what point does it go from “pilfering” to “theft” (or in the case of the whiskey, grand larceny)?  I’m always parsing what Pompeo says about not knowing the whereabouts of the whiskey in the context of assuming that his wife knows exactly what happened to it.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    August 9, 2021 at 11:42 pm

    Fatso Pompeo thinks he’s got a lock on the GQP nom in 2024.

  24. 24.

    Wag

    August 9, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    @mvr:   I disagree. Pouring that whiskey would be a perfect way to burnish his foreign policy credentials at taxpayer expense.  After all, it was our whiskey.

  25. 25.

    Wag

    August 9, 2021 at 11:44 pm

    @JoyceH:   I like!

  26. 26.

    sdhays

    August 9, 2021 at 11:44 pm

    @Keith P.: I assume he drank it and literally pissed it away and therefore has “no idea” where his piss is now. It was given to HIM, after all.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    August 9, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    @Ken:
    To spend three decades being just weeks away from a long-coveted dream! I have no idea how I could stand that kind of frustration.

  28. 28.

    boatboy_srq

    August 9, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    It strikes me that we’ve just had (for lack of better words) a hotelier’s family in the WH. Given what pilfering occurs in hotels – and what guests try to get away with – it’s hardly surprising that they tried to strip the place bare on their way out.

  29. 29.

    sdhays

    August 9, 2021 at 11:47 pm

    @James E Powell: Similar to how “Just say there was fraud and I and the Republican Congressmen will do the rest” is such “old news”.

  30. 30.

    Cameron

    August 9, 2021 at 11:49 pm

    @Ken: According to the Israelis, it’s been nuclear infrastructure week in Iran for a long,long time.

  31. 31.

    James E Powell

    August 9, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    Somehow Trump’s tax returns are back in court and the judge – a Trump appointee – set a hearing for November. WTF? Why is there even a hearing? I thought this matter was resolved? Can’t the Treasury Department just turn them over? Did the court issue a preliminary injunction? There are time limits for those.

    Why would the court continue to protect that asshole? Does the judge have some idea what would be revealed? Do you guys think other persons or business entities might be implicated in something?

    Or is it all just Fuck the Libs?

  32. 32.

    phdesmond

    August 9, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    @JoyceH:

    linguistically, very satisfying.

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack

    August 9, 2021 at 11:53 pm

    [. . .] most of the missing items are gifts the U.S. was intending to give other countries. Many bore Donald Trump’s insignia, the U.S. officials said.

    ??

  34. 34.

    Emma from Miami

    August 10, 2021 at 12:06 am

    @dmsilev: That’s government-level thievery, not personal.​

  35. 35.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    August 10, 2021 at 12:07 am

    @sdhays:

    Why the fuck isn’t DeJoy gone? Why hasn’t the Board of Governors, which is controlled by Dems now, fired him yet? Surely this can qualify as “for cause”

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    August 10, 2021 at 12:26 am

    Repeated from downstairs (no new open thread when posted and was headed out the door at the time).

    Dick Farrel, a former right-wing radio host in Florida and anchor on Newsmax TV, died Wednesday of complications from Covid-19, NBC affiliate WPTV of West Palm Beach reported.
    [snip]
    Farrel was a vocal and staunch advocate against the coronavirus vaccines, which he posted about on social media, once calling them “bogus.” He also railed against figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom he called a “lying freak.”

    However, after he contracted Covid-19, friends said, Farrel’s attitude about the vaccines and the virus changed, WPTV reported. Source

  37. 37.

    James E Powell

    August 10, 2021 at 12:27 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I don’t get it. Apparently one of the D board members likes him & what he is doing. DeJoy being a cartoon villain who appears to be funneling taxpayer money into his pockets obscures the changes being implemented.

    The people who might be supporting him simply to show loyalty or to own the libs might actually oppose the changes he is making if they knew what they are.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    August 10, 2021 at 12:33 am

    @James E Powell

    Expect the newest price increase for stamps to be laid on him and only afterward will he be given the boot.

    The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a second 2021 postage rate increase for mailing services (letters, postcards) to be implemented on Sunday, August 29, 2021 subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission. This would be the second USPS postage rate increase of 2021, with the first rate increase going into effect on January 24, 2021. Source

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    August 10, 2021 at 12:55 am

    Which calls to mind Rep. Marc Pocan (D-WI), from June:

    Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, who organized a letter signed by 90 House Democrats [last] August calling for DeJoy’s removal, said the postmaster general “is a guy who obviously has a lot of confidence in himself.”
    [snip]
    When Pocan pressed him during another House hearing about what grade he would give himself as postmaster general, DeJoy resisted answering, then finally replied, “An ‘A’ for bringing strategy and the planning and effort.”

    Recalling the exchange, Pocan joked that almost no one would give DeJoy’s performance an ‘A,’ “Unless it was followed by a derogatory name.” Source

  40. 40.

    West of the Rockies

    August 10, 2021 at 1:01 am

    Piggy Pompeo scarfed down the booze.

  41. 41.

    West of the Rockies

    August 10, 2021 at 1:07 am

    @NotMax:

    Another one bites the dust…

    Why, yes, I am chortling.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    August 10, 2021 at 1:12 am

    @West of the Rockies

    The question now is will Newsmax change its tune regarding vaccines?

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    August 10, 2021 at 1:16 am

    @NotMax:

    The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a second 2021 postage rate increase for mailing services (letters, postcards) to be implemented on Sunday, August 29, 2021 subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

    So, up to 58 cents or so. Still a bargain.

    But doesn’t DeJoy also want to increase delivery times for first class mail?

  44. 44.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 10, 2021 at 2:27 am

    I wanna go at the Greeks! They invented gayness!

    Reaction to a Father Ted skit. “I hear you’re a racist now!”

  45. 45.

    opiejeanne

    August 10, 2021 at 2:54 am

    @Brachiator: I think they already did increase the amount of time it takes a first class letter to get somewhere.

    I sent one from the post office, hand cancelled, and it took 12 days to get to SoCal from the Seattle area.

  46. 46.

    Ten Bears

    August 10, 2021 at 3:37 am

    Not to put too fine of a point on it, be as polite as can be, but just think about this for a second: the only people to find value in $5,000 a bottle whiskey or a $10 beer … are those that drink them.

    A bunch of drunks …

    Ever wonder why meth is so easy to get?

  47. 47.

    Ryan

    August 10, 2021 at 4:28 am

    I think the answer is staring us in the face.  I think the bottle of whiskey is in that ginormous chin.

  48. 48.

    Amir Khalid

    August 10, 2021 at 4:38 am

    If anybody cares, today is the first of Muharram,1443 in the Muslim calendar — new year’s day.

  49. 49.

    satby

    August 10, 2021 at 4:42 am

    @Amir Khalid: Happy New Year Amir!

  50. 50.

    Mary G

    August 10, 2021 at 4:44 am

    @Amir Khalid: Happy New Year, Amir. May it be much better than the last.

  51. 51.

    Amir Khalid

    August 10, 2021 at 4:45 am

    @Ten Bears:
    I have trouble imagining how you establish that a whiskey is worth north of 23,000 ringgit a bottle.

  52. 52.

    Batgirl

    August 10, 2021 at 4:50 am

    @Brachiator: I’ve had 4 business checks get lost in the US Mail the last six months. That means a delay in vendors getting paid, having to stop checks and reissue and/or dealing with late fees. At one vendor a check showed up two months after we mailed and a week after they received the new check. It’s an absolute mess!

  53. 53.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 10, 2021 at 4:50 am

    @Amir Khalid: Quite easy, someone will pay you that much.

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    August 10, 2021 at 4:51 am

     

     

    @Amir Khalid: Happy New Year! I hope it’s a happy one for us all.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    August 10, 2021 at 4:58 am

    @Amir Khalid:  Happy New Year!

  56. 56.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 10, 2021 at 5:06 am

    While the whiskey was a gift from Japan’s government, most of the missing items are gifts the U.S. was intending to give other countries. Many bore Donald Trump’s insignia, the U.S. officials said…

    And certainly those countries were happy to not get a gift that was scribbled on by the Kremlin’s bitch.

  57. 57.

    Amir Khalid

    August 10, 2021 at 5:30 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I suppose TFG figured that the Biden administration wasn’t going to hand out White House swag with TFG’s name on it; so rather than let it go to waste, he, TFG, should flog it at the Mar-a-Lago/Bedminster gift shop.

  58. 58.

    Tony Jay

    August 10, 2021 at 5:37 am

    To be fair, once Tangerine Foxtraitor Golfer gets buried by in the rising tide of financial and ethical prosecutions splooshing his way, all of those signed relics of The Orange Interregnum are going to become collector’s items. I’m not surprised people low enough to work for that sack of congealed vices would lower themselves still further to outright theft, after all, there’s a buck in it, and isn’t that all that really matters?

  59. 59.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    August 10, 2021 at 8:12 am

    It’s hilarious how these bores think they can become president.

    Pompeo is even boring than Lamar Alexander, Fred Thompson, Scott Walker, etc.

  60. 60.

    evodevo

    August 10, 2021 at 8:29 am

    @Batgirl: ​
      I might note for the record that all this mail delivery problem started right after I quit as a mail carrier in Jan. 2020 LOL – just sayin’

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