Ethics Group Sues Over Mnuchin Solar Eclipse Jaunt

By Daniel J. Solomon September 11, 2017

An ethics group is suing the Treasury Department for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request about a July jaunt taken by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and wife Louise Linton to watch the solar eclipse in Kentucky.

The group, Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, requested the information about costs for the trip, after the Cabinet secretary and his spouse traveled to Fort Knox – in the so-called zone of totality – to view the solar eclipse.

The two traveled aboard a federal plane and were received at the site operated by the government. Linton received backlash for the travel after she posted a photo on social media bragging about all the bling she was wearing during the outing.

“We filed an expedited FOIA request because Americans deserve more information to determine whether there has been misuse of government resources,” said CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder in a press release. “We’re suing because the government has so far failed even to respond.”

“At a time of expected deep cuts to the federal budget, the taxpayers have a significant interest in learning the extent to which Secretary Mnuchin has used government planes for travel in lieu of commercial planes, and the justification for that use,” he added.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO