The city of Chicago's official government watchdog is raising new questions about how the Johnson Administration handled gifts accepted by the mayor on behalf of the city.
It's the latest report from Chicago's inspector general dealing with what's become known as the mayor's "gift closet."
Back in January, the mayor's office reportedly refused to let investigators from the IG's office see how and where the Johnson Administration stored gifts from dignitaries.
Eventually, the mayor's office opened what became known as the gift closet to public access.
But in an update released Tuesday, IG Deborah Witzburg says what we now know as the gift closet was not created until after her office's investigators showed up for its inspection.
"Where that leaves us is without any ability to confirm or identify where all of those gifts were stored before we went looking for them,"
Witzburg said. "We are never gonna know the answer to that question."
Witzburg added that she's concerned the mayor's office was trying to create a false impression about how it handled gifts accepted on behalf of the city.
"The problem here is one of candor and transparency," she said. "If what the mayor's office meant to convey to the public was that they had constructed a new gift room, they should have said so."
A spokesperson for the mayor issued a statement saying in part that the larger gift room was built in response to the IG's previous report, and it's more accessible than previous administrations.