Trump Faces Toshakhana Controversy Like ‘Friend’ Imran

Washington authorities have begun a probe into former President Donald Trump’s “possible inability to account for presents from foreign government officials while in office,” similar to Pakistan’s Toshakhana gate, after finding that thousands of dollars worth of objects are missing or were not monitored correctly, according to a recent letter addressed to the National Archives by the House Oversight and Reform Committee chairperson.

In the final year of President Trump’s administration, “the Trump administration failed to prioritise this task and comply with the law that regulates foreign gift reporting,” according to committee evidence got from the State Department, the letter notes.

It has been a widely reported story in the United States. “The origins and value of the presents President Trump received remain a mystery,” the statement continues. Imran Khan, Trump’s ally and former Pakistani prime minister has also been accused of accepting gifts from foreign governments.

Imran has been accused of selling crown prince Muhammad bin Salman’s watch. On another occasion, the Crown Prince bought this watch for himself from the market where it was sold before. Both Imran and Trump have a history of using derogatory rhetoric against anyone who opposes them and criticises them. Imran used to refer to Trump as his buddy. Their favourite target has always been the media.

According to observers, former Prime Minister Imran Khan has not provided information on the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries despite many demands. The Oversight Committee in Washington is now demanding information from the National Archives concerning the foreign gifts that Trump and members of his family got during the term of the former president..

Until June 20th, the committee has requested any relevant papers and conversations concerning Trump and family members’ gifts from January 2020 to January 2021 from the National Archives.

There are some missing gifts lately, thanks to media reports. President Trump received a bust of Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to India in February 2020, a marble replica of Gandhi’s “Three Monkeys” statue, and a spinning wheel as presents, according to the letter. However, according to a letter signed by State Department head Carolyn Maloney, the agency could not locate the missing information because it does not have access to all the relevant data.

When an outgoing administration leaves office, they put new rules in place to guarantee that members of that administration are not influenced by foreign governments while they are still in office or once they have stepped down. The committee points out that a US official cannot lawfully receive a personal present from a foreign source that exceeds $415.

Members of the former president’s family, as well as a senior State Department employee who briefed the committee last month, claim to have kept artefacts worth tens of thousands of dollars. This raises the possibility that even more items have gone missing, some of which are worth even more. Gifts sent to former Secretary of State Pompeo (including a rare whiskey worth $5,800) went missing, according to the State Department. “No recall of receiving the bottle of whiskey and does not have any knowledge of what happened to it,” William Burck, Pompeo’s lawyer, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last year.

Gifts for the president and the secretary of state are traditionally presented to the State Department for storage in a gift vault before they are given to the General Services Administration if they are worth more than $415.

However, there is also the fact that the State is involved.

There was “total disorganisation” in the Trump administration’s accounting of the “vault” for the committee, according to department officials.