Steve Mnuchin: Requested Government Jet for Honeymoon, Used Military Plane for Solar Eclipse Viewing
The government plane honeymoon request was denied after it became public in August 2017. Mnuchin said he had made the request for security reasons and had not been aware of the cost. The Kentucky solar eclipse trip drew IG scrutiny when reports emerged that Linton had asked whether she could accompany Mnuchin on the official trip specifically to watch the eclipse. The IG found the trip had a legitimate official purpose — Mnuchin was scheduled to attend meetings at the Fort Knox federal reserve — but noted concerns about the process and the optics of combining official travel with personal viewing of the solar eclipse. Linton's Instagram post — she tagged designer brands she was wearing and responded hostilely to a commenter — became a symbol of administration attitudes toward wealth and public service.