A $20,000 diamond, an $11,000 watch… What else was given to American federal employees
6 January 14:08
The Office of the Chief of Protocol of the US Department of State has published its annual report on gifts to federal employees, which details the expensive gifts given in 2023 to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and not only to them. This was reported by The Guardian and The Washington Post, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs.
By law, all federal employees are required to report gifts from foreign government sources worth $480 or more. The President, First Lady, and Vice President Kamala Harris are among those who have received gifts from foreign guests most often in their positions.
The most expensive was the gift to First Lady Jill Biden: a 7.5-carat diamond worth $20,000 she received from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her gifts also include a brooch worth $14,063 from Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States and a $4,510 bracelet, brooch, and photo album from the president and first lady of Egypt.
The list of gifts for Biden is much longer:
– a commemorative photo album worth $7100 from South Korean President Yun Suk-yol;
– a statue of Mongolian soldiers worth $3,495 from the Prime Minister of Mongolia;
– a silver bowl worth $3,300 from the Sultan of Brunei;
– a silver tray worth $3,160 from the President of Israel.
By the way, the list also includes a gift to Biden from President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy – a collage “Crimea. Return” collage worth $2,400.
The report also mentions an $11,000 watch given to CIA Director William Burns. This watch was reportedly destroyed, and information about its origin was not included in the report. It explains that the head of the intelligence agency may request that such information be excluded “if its publication could adversely affect the sources or methods of United States intelligence.”
The report notes that gifts from foreign governments are almost always accepted because, as the State Department report emphasizes, not accepting them could cause embarrassment to the donor and misunderstanding for the US government.
