Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern
Ben Carson HUD Furniture: $31,000 Dining Set Ordered Above the $5,000 Limit, Then Cancelled
The $31,561 dining set — table, chairs, and hutch — was ordered in September 2017 for Carson's HUD suite. A career HUD employee, Helen Foster, filed a complaint alleging she was reassigned after she raised concerns about the legality of the purchase. Foster said she was told by HUD leadership that the order would go forward and that 'someone' had ordered it who outranked her. After the purchase became public in February 2018, Carson and his wife initially disputed involvement; email communications later showed that Carson and his wife had selected the set, and Carson testified in March 2018 that he had 'left it to my wife, you know, to choose something.' The order was cancelled. The HUD inspector general's September 2019 report cleared Carson of misconduct.