© Yuri Gripes/Reuters
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a left-leaning legal watchdog group, used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain information on Mnuchin's use of military flights for himself, his staff and, allegedly on one occasion, accompanying journalists and the secretary's fiancee. CREW says the initial request was ignored and it took a lawsuit to acquire the documents, some of which were heavily redacted.
The watchdog's report, released on Thursday, said Mnuchin used military passenger aircraft for domestic and overseas trips eight times between the spring and fall of 2017, often at a far greater cost than if he had used aircraft provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report said Mnuchin made far greater use of Air Force planes than his predecessors, and had not taken any commercial airline flights on government business.
"The one area where Secretary Mnuchin appears to have parted company from his predecessors is his use of military aircraft for domestic flights at a cost of nearly $200,000," it said. "Dating back to 2006, Treasury secretaries used military aircraft for only three wholly domestic flights."
The treasury secretary, who is responsible for imposing sanctions on other governments Washington accuses of, among other things, improper advertising spending or misusing their nations' resources, flew himself and four others down to Miami on June 15, 2017, which cost taxpayers $45,136. CREW said that flight was $18,000 more than an FAA flight would have cost and over $41,000 more than five airline tickets. The justification given was that Mnuchin needed to make a secure phone call in mid-air.
Comment: Abuse of privilege comes to mind. So does ripping off taxpayer money.