The New York Times is trying to insinuate Mike Pompeo stole a $5,800 bottle of whiskey gifted by the Japanese government. The issue? There’s no evidence to point to such a claim. In a recent article, the New York Times relied on anonymous sources and generalizations to imply that Trump’s former Secretary of State must have stolen the gift despite him not knowing anything about the bottle to begin with.
New York Times writer Michael S. Schmidt who published the article titled, “$5,800 Whiskey Bottle, a Gift From Japan to Pompeo, Is Missing, U.S. Says” tweeted a brief synopsis of his thinly veiled smear campaign. (per The Daily Wire)
NEW: In 2019 Japan gifted Sec State Mike Pompeo a $5,800 bottle of whiskey. Now, State says it has no idea where it went and is investigating its whereabouts. It’s against law to take gift from foreigner over $390. Pompeo says he knows nothing about bottle.
The clear implication in this tweet is that the gift was given to Pompeo (it wasn’t) and that it is now missing, making Pompeo the most likely culprit. Schmidt then accuses Pompeo of a crime before quickly adding the former secretary of state’s response.
The actual article paints a different picture while still trying to implicate Pompeo. In the second paragraph, Schmidt admits: “It was unclear whether Mr. Pompeo ever received the gift, as he was traveling in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2019, the day that Japanese officials gave it to the State Department, according to a department filing on Wednesday in the Federal Register documenting gifts that senior American officials received in 2019.”
Pompeo’s attorney, William A. Burck, told the Times that the former secretary of state didn’t remember ever receiving any bottle of whiskey and did not know where it could possibly be. He also said Pompeo was unaware there was even an inquiry about such a bottle.
The only thing Pompeo is guilty of is being associated with Donald Trump, which is the real reason behind Schmidt’s hit piece on the former Secretary of State.
It’s time for leftwing news publications to give up their strange predilection with Trump and his former associates but it seems that’s the only way to still attract viewers. Maybe next time The Times will at least use named sources when it attempts to attack conservatives but don’t hold your breath.
