Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he inquired about using a government plane for his honeymoon as a matter of national security.
“Effectively, it was a portable office so I could be available” in case of a national security emergency, Mnuchin said at an event hosted by Politico in Washington.
ABC News reported Wednesday that the Treasury Inspector General had begun an inquiry into Mnuchin’s request to use a government plane for him and his wife to travel to Scotland, Italy, and France. Separately, the inspector general is reviewing the use of a government plane to take Mnuchin and his wife to Fort Knox in Kentucky last month.
On Thursday, Mnuchin said the government has never paid for his personal travel.
In the case of his honeymoon, he said, his staff suggested looking into the possibility of flying on a government plane to maintain secure communications at all times. It was ruled out when they found other means to do so.
“This was not about convenience. This was about national security,” he said.
With the threats posed by North Korea, Russia, and other countries, Mnuchin said he has a greater need to ensure constant contact with the rest of the administration than previous Treasury secretaries had. Mnuchin is a member of the National Security Council and says he spends half his time on terrorist financing, sanctions, and other security issues.
As for the Kentucky trip, Mnuchin brushed off the speculation that it was chartered so that he could be in the “path of totality” for the eclipse at the time. The media focused on the trip after his wife, Louise Linton, insulted an Instagram commenter who had criticized her presence on the trip and flaunting of designer clothes.
The Kentucky trip had been planned for a different time and later was rescheduled to coincide with the eclipse, he said. He said he didn’t bother to spend time viewing the eclipse, only looking at it for two minutes.
