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

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT