WATCH: Chicago mayor's office releases video of gift closet after OIG investigation
CHICAGO - Chicago residents now have a look inside City Hall’s gift closet after an investigation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) raised concerns about how mayoral gifts have been handled and reported.
The OIG report found that the Mayor’s Office accepted gifts, including designer handbags and jewelry, on behalf of the city without publicly reporting them as required. Instead, under an unwritten policy dating back to the late 1980s, gifts were logged in a book available for public viewing on the fifth floor of City Hall.
However, the OIG said these gifts should have been reported to the Board of Ethics and the city comptroller, with the reports made publicly accessible.
In response to the investigation, the Mayor’s Office on Wednesday released a video and list of gifts received on behalf of the city.
The 22-second YouTube video displays various items that have been presented to the city of Chicago, and the full inventory is now available on the city’s website.
The backstory:
The OIG visited City Hall undercover and requested to see the logbook. The Mayor's Office denied the request and directed OIG officials to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Inspector general officials said they filed a FOIA request in a "covert capacity" and the Mayor's Office failed to respond in a timely manner, reflecting a denial of the request.
The OIG then sent an official document request to the Mayor's Office for the logbook and received a spreadsheet detailing 380 gifts accepted by the Mayor's Office "on behalf of the city" between Feb. 2, 2022 and March 20, 2024. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot's logs included entries for 144 gifts received while Johnson's logs contained 236 entries.
Among the gifts given under the Johnson administration were Hugo Boss cufflinks; Givenchy, Gucci, and Kate Spade handbags; a personalized Mont Blanc pen; and size 14 men’s shoes, OIG officials said. Some of the gifts were stored in the gift room and the others were in Mayor Brandon Johnson's personal office, the inspector said.
The OIG visited the fifth floor to conduct an unannounced inspection of the Gift Room and was denied access.
"When gifts are changing hands—perhaps literally—in a windowless room in City Hall, there is no opportunity for oversight and public scrutiny of the propriety of such gifts, the identities or intentions of the gift-givers, or what it means for gifts like whiskey, jewelry, handbags, and size 14 men’s shoes to be accepted ‘on behalf of the City,’" said Deborah Witzburg, inspector general for the City of Chicago.
Under the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, city officials are generally prohibited from accepting gifts of value over $50 unless they are "accepted on behalf of the city."
Most of the entries did not disclose the gift-givers.
What's next:
If you’d like to view the gift closet and log, click here.
The Source: The information in this article came from the mayor's office and previous FOX 32 coverage.