Opportunistic Millionaire Attempted to Score Free Honeymoon Ride

Do you want to win a free, all expenses paid for, honeymoon trip to Europe? Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin certainly tried to make that happen for himself. According to a report from ABC News, Mnuchin attempted to hitch a ride on a government plane when he travelled to Europe this summer on a honeymoon with his equally as detestable beau.

Mnuchin, who is worth an estimated $400 million, unabashedly put the request in writing, apparently claiming that he needed a U.S Air Force jet to access secure communication channels. Had he been successful, Mnuchin’s flight would have cost taxpayers somewhere around $25,000 an hour, officials who spoke to ABC News about the request said.

ABC News also noted that Mnuchin’s ask was “highly unusual” and prompted the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General to open an inquiry into the request. Travel on U.S Air Force Jets is usually reserved for the president, vice president, and cabinet members whose job deals with national security — which apparently includes Mnuchin, at least according to the Treasury Department’s spokesperson:

“The Secretary is a member of the National Security Council and has responsibility for the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence,” the spokesman said in a statement. “It is imperative that he have access to secure communications, and it is our practice to consider a wide range of options to ensure he has these capabilities during his travel, including the possible use of military aircraft.”

The Treasury’s Inspector General has already opened an investigation into whether Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, improperly flew on a government plane to watch the eclipse’s path of totality in Kentucky last month. That trip, of course, ignited a shitstorm after Linton casually flaunted her wealth on Instagram and accosted a woman who dared question the couple’s use of a government plane. “Did you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol,” Linton told the woman. Turns out Linton’s insolent comment was really more of failed fantasy.

I’m not sure how anyone could be shocked that Mnuchin, a politician who once tried to foreclose on a 90-year-old woman’s house over 27 cents, would also try to finagle a taxpayer-funded ride on a government plane instead of spending his own millions.