Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s trip to Fort Knox, Ky., coinciding with the solar eclipse last year cost taxpayers $33,000, according to records obtained by a government watchdog group.
Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, traveled aboard a military aircraft to Louisville and Fort Knox on Aug. 21, 2017, where they attended a luncheon and toured a gold bullion depository. The trip drew scrutiny after some questioned whether Mnuchin used the trip to ensure a prime view of the solar eclipse.
According to documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the trip on the military aircraft came at a cost of $33,046 to taxpayers.
The trip was initially scheduled for Aug. 8, and Mnuchin was supposed to travel only to Fort Knox. But the trip was rescheduled after Congress delayed its August recess.
As a result, the Department of Treasury told the Federal Aviation Administration it would reschedule the trip for the last two weeks of August. The agency, however, notified the Treasury Department that requested FAA aircraft was “heavily scheduled” during that time frame and offered the plane for Aug. 31 or Sept. 1.
Mnuchin, though, requested a military aircraft, “preferably a C-40,” according to documents obtained by CREW, for Mnuchin’s travel to Louisville and Fort Knox on Aug. 21.
In addition to information about Mnuchin’s trip to Kentucky, CREW found the Treasury secretary took seven trips aboard military aircraft between the spring and fall of 2017.
The trips cost nearly $1 million, according to documents obtained by the group.
The Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General revealed last year Mnuchin’s seven flights on military aircraft cost $800,000.
