Ethics Group Sues Over Mnuchin Solar Eclipse Jaunt
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
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.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO