New emails show Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and his wife, Candy, were involved in the selection of new furniture for his office, despite previous claims that he played no part in the furniture’s selection.
The dining room set purchased for his government office sparked backlash over the $31,000 price tag.
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Carson said two weeks ago that he was “surprised as anyone to find out that a $31,000 dining set had been ordered,” and he had requested the order be canceled.
The furniture was not scheduled to be delivered until May, and HUD had not yet paid for the dining set.
Emails provided to CNN by liberal watchdog American Oversight refer to “printouts of the furniture the Secretary and Mrs. Carson picked out.”
HUD spokesman Raffi Williams initially denied the Carsons were involved in picking out the dining room set. But Williams said later that Mrs. Carson did choose “styles” of furniture.
“When presented with options by professional staff, Mrs. Carson participated in the selection of specific styles,” Williams told CNN Tuesday.
“New tables, chairs, in that room whatsoever — zero awareness of this purchase being made,” an unnamed HUD spokesman told CNN at the time. “Neither one of them knew this purchase was being made. The secretary knew that the table and chairs were old because somebody fell out of a chair once. That’s literally it. So they had nothing to do with the purchase, nothing to do with anything around that.”
In addition, the emails show two Carson aides asking for repairs on existing furniture. Such repairs would have cost $1,100, CNN reported. In a statement earlier this month, Carson said the furniture was “unsafe” and “needed to be replaced.” He said he and his wife were told there was a $25,000 budget; a quote for the furniture came in under budget at $24,666.
A staffer sent the quote to Carson’s chief of staff and executive assistant.
The final price of the dining set came in $7,000 more than the original quote due to delivery and installation fees as well as a price increase for upholstered chairs.
