'ILLEGAL' GIFTS TO OFFICIAL JAM ROOM IN FOGGY BOTTOM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP68-00046R000200150005-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 26, 2014
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: August 20, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

3TAT ? _
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/26 : CIA-RDP68-00046R000200150005-7
AUG 2 0 190,
i hi Fo
By DAVID BRAATEN ,
t.ar Staff Writer
?i'With luck, this may be the
year the general finally gets his
tiger skull, ' the ambassador
.collects 'his silver tea set and
the spy Master 'first sets foot on
.. his Persian rugs. ?
.The -skull, the tea..Set and the
?
?
rugs are just a few of the
'thousands of medals and
.mementoes that have been -
presented by foreign govern-
ments to American public
servants in violation of Clause
8, Section 9, Article I of the ;
,Constitution. ("No person ? ?
holding any office of 'profit or ?
trust . . . shall, , without the
consent of the Congress, accept
Of any present, emolument, ?
office or title of any kind
whatever from any king, prince
,or foreign state.")
When a conscientious United? ?
States employe is given a token
of esteem. by a foreign govern-'
?
ment, he turns it over to the
State'Department, which wraps
3 it in brown paper, labels it and
stashes it away ? in. a locked'
room
ropm' in the basement at Foggy ?
Bottom.; .Years.later.' ichea
faithful servant retires and IS polished, beautifully decorated
presumably beyond the reach of - tiger skull by the? Thai govern- , ?
bribery, State reminds Congress ' , ment in 1956, and he has been ' 44
and a bill is passed allowing ?? ?, saving a place for it ever since ?? :I
him to collect his present. 4 in the 9-by-5-foot curio ,cabinet -??,.??
Enough follow the letter of .--.'? .tin his home at-2306 Forty-
the law to create quite a prob- 1 ,fourth street N.W. ,
I em for State Department The urgency attaches to
housekeepers. . another of the general's gifts,
The room in the basement is though?the Royal Order. of ? ' -? ?
nearly fulL
. King George I, ' which was ;
Congress has coMpounded.the presented to him' in 1959 by
problem in recent years by,':;Crown ? Prince Constantine of
neglecting to pass the usual? Greece. Constantine is now
blanket bill covering people who ?'King of Greece, and. Gen.
retired .in the previous .two or . ???: Erskine has been invited to the
three years. The last such bill 't :royal wedding in Athens Sep-
was *passed. in 1958, and since ?? tember 18. The Geeeks are
then the medals, . ? cigarette ? bound to notice if he isn't
lighters and inscribed 'watches * wearing their medal?it has a
have been piling up. wide ribbon across the chest?
Last -Week, Representative ? and they may ask questions. ,
H a y s, Democrat of Ohio, . Gen. Erskine has one consols-
' introduced a bill to distribute. tion as he waits patiently for his
the presents given to some 2,000 ? -,. locked-Up souvenirs: Former
military and civilian personnel Prime Minister Sa it. of Thai-
who have retired since the 1958 ? ' land gave his eldest son to Gen.
..housecleaning.. " ?? ? ? : Erskine as a mark of esteem
One who dearly?hopes the,bill ?? some years ago. The State' ? ?
will pass--,-and -soon?is Marine:, i'".;?? lawyers apparently . considered
'.Corps, Gen: Graves B. ,Erskine, e, gift ..I?nerely. symbolic,' '
who retiredin ?" ? . though, so when the young man :
7?:,Gesi.'*- Ersidne:.:,was?.?givep-:,????.a-..i.:?J;.--- visited his, foster parent- in.
,
- ? - ?
? ?
eont inuz:d
nAciassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/26 : CIA-RDP68-00046R000200150005-7