More digital evidence surfaced showing Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin may have flown too close to the sun when he brought wife Louise Linton to Kentucky for a quick luncheon and a view of the solar eclipse at Ft. Knox.
A watchdog group is already demanding the government turn over documents for the trip, after Mnuchin’s wife, Scottish actress Louise Linton, went on an online tirade against a reader who slammed her promotion of top designer brands on a photograph she posted.
Now, it has emerged that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has confirmed that the trip was about more than strictly government business.
McConnell posted on Facebook with a sun-lit image of himself and Mnuchin – with no trace of Linton in the shot – outside the front door of Ft. Knox, which Mnuchin toured during the trip on Monday.
Sharing: Linton, 36, posted a photo of herself getting off a taxpayer-funded plane with her husband Steven Mnuchin, on Instagram on Monday and tagged the designers she wore
‘The U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and I in front of the main door to the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox before we viewed the #solareclipse today,’ McConnell wrote, in an image from Fort Knox, Kentucy.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has issued a freedom of information request seeking documents about use of the government-owned plane emblazoned with ‘United States of America’ on the side.
A McConnell aide told the Washington Post that he and Mnuchin viewed the eclipse not from the rooftop but from the lawn, without explanation for the inaccurate online post.
According to a Treasury statement: ‘The Mint staff had originally suggested that the delegation watch the eclipse from the roof but the Secretary specifically canceled that part of the tour. They watched it briefly from outside before they entered (prior to the actual time of full eclipse).’
In touch? Linton (seen wearing $30,000 of clothing with Mnuchin in Edinburgh at the start of their honeymoon) called the mother-of-three ‘out of touch’ and boasted about taxes she pays
Treasury said the trip was official government travel. Mnuchin also attended a luncheon with McConnell at a local chamber of commerce. The meal ended right as the solar eclipse began – in a state whose western part got to see totality.
Inside Fort Knox, McConnell got to hold a 27-pound gold bar as part of the first civilian delegation to get to view the gold for 40 years, the AP reported.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has written Treasury seeking a detailed explanation for the purpose of the trip.
Big bucks: Louise Linton’s outfit that she showed off on Instagram in a post that prompted a social media firestorm and has been widely bashed as tone-deaf cost close to $15,000
Linton, 36, shared a photo of herself getting off a taxpayer-funded plane with her husband, 54-year-old Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, on Instagram on Monday. She took care to tag the luxury designers she was wearing on the shot, including Tom Fort, Hermes, Valentino and Roland Mouret.
A mother of three from Oregon named Jenni Miller called out Linton in the comments section, telling her the post was ‘deplorable’ and saying ironically, presumably on behalf of taxpayers: ‘Glad we could pay for your little getaway.’ She received a long, angry rant from Linton in return, in which the actress accused Miller of being ‘adorably out of touch’.
The image was innocuous, but Linton made the questionable decision to segue from the standard cheerful hashtags to a systematic namedrop of all of the brands in her outfit.
Style star: The high-end label lover has always been keen on fashion, and even walked in a ‘Dressed to Kilt’ charity fashion show in New York City back in 2010
‘Great #daytrip to #Kentucky!’ she wrote. ‘#nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino’.
She concluded with a perfunctory-looking ‘#usa’.
A screengrab from account posted by a CNN journalist showed a second image of Linton and Mnuchin leaving the plane.
That one had apparently had the fashion hashtags removed – and had the companies she’d name-dropped tagged in the picture itself instead.
That post invoked Miller’s ire—and things went downhill from there.
‘Cute! [kissing face emoji] Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?!’ replied Linton, who recently concluded a Europe-trotting honeymoon with Mnuchin.
‘Adorable! Do you think the US Govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?’
‘Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband?’ continued the minor TV and movie actress whose new, second husband’s net worth was estimated by Forbes to be more than $500 million.
‘Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country?’