ETHICS/STEVE MNUCHIN/TREASURY: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s use of military aircraft has cost taxpayers nearly $1 million for eight trips, newly released documents show.
That includes a one-week trip to the Middle East in late October, which cost $183,646 for flights on military aircraft. That trip came on top of $811,797.81 in previously reported expenditures for government-funded military aircraft.
Emails and other documents were obtained by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington through a Freedom of Information Act request. They corroborate information released in October by the Treasury Department’s inspector general about Mnuchin’s plane use.
Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration are facing scrutiny for their use of government-funded flights… The group said the Treasury chief could schedule calls ‘when he is not on a short domestic flight’ and could potentially use smaller aircraft. Treasury released the documents under FOIA until after CREW filed a lawsuit.
A Treasury spokesperson said Mnuchin has not used any military aircraft since the Middle East trip but is scheduled to use one next week to fly to Buenos Aires for the G20 Summit. The official also emphasized that the Treasury inspector general in its October report said Mnuchin had not violated any laws. The agency did encourage the Treasury secretary to provide more information to prove that he couldn’t use a regular commercial flight.”
-Victoria Guida, “Mnuchin’s plane travel cost taxpayers $1 million, documents show,” Politico, Mar. 15, 2018 06:30pm