Donald Trump’s claim he would “DRAIN THE SWAMP!” when in office has been a bit shaky since day one as he signed numerous ethics waivers for lobbyists and appointed a number of ex-Goldman Sachs employees to prominent posts.
Now revelations about one of those former-bankers threatens to make one of the promises upon which he was elected look even more dishonest.
Steven Mnuchin, the US Secretary of the Treasury (the guy in charge of all the money), requested the use of a tax-payer funded government jet to take him and his wife, Louise Linton, on their honeymoon tour of Europe, reports ABC News.
Not only that but he is also being investigated for a flight he took last month that he says was for government business but just so happened to give the couple a prime view of the solar eclipse.
Government jets cost around £19,000 per hour to operate and the request was described by one Senator as “slap your forehead stuff”.
As outrageous as this sounds in light of Linton’s recent behaviour it doesn’t appear as far-fetched.
The 36-year-old Scottish-born actress last month unleashed a ‘let them eat cake’-style rant on Instagram where she boasted about her wealth and belittled those less well off under a picture of the pair disembarking from... a plush taxpayer-funded jet.
The post was adorned with a flurry of hashtags implying she had spent the day boutique shopping.
It read:
“Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa”
An Instagram user, called “Jenni M,” responded to Linton’s post and said:
“Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable”
Linton responded with absolutely no sense of irony by claiming Jenni M was “out of touch”.
“@Jennimiller29 cute!....Aw!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! 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? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day “trip” than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. Your kids look very cute. Your life looks cute. I know you’re mad but deep down you’re really nice and so am I. Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn’t going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message, one filled with wisdom and hunanity [SIC] would get more traction. Have a pleasant evening. Go chill out and watch the new game of thrones. It’s fab!”
Of the honeymoon request, the Treasury Department in a statement said the request was made because of the need for “access to secure communications”.
It was later deemed unnecessary when it became clear “secure communications” are also available on non-government jets.
In 2016, Linton came under fire for her self-published memoir, In Congo’s Shadow, which detailed her time as a student in Zambia. In July of 2016, Zambians, and their advocates, criticised Linton’s portrayal of Zambia as a war-torn, poverty-stricken nation with wild animals running through the streets.
Linton was also criticised for portraying herself as a white saviour. Under pressure, Linton withdrew the book from sale and pledged to give any proceeds to charity.