Ever since President Trump moved into the White House there has been only one redeeming thing to emerge from the Deep State's relentless pursuit of something, anything, that could bring down his administration...namely, their recent obsession with this woman, Scottish actress and wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Louise Linton.
For those who glossed over this particular storyline, Linton sparked an 'international crisis' just a couple of weeks ago when she made the mistake of responding to a social media troll on Instragram who took issue with Linton posting pictures of herself disembarking from a private, taxpayer-funded, private plane. Here was Linton's snarky retort:
“Cute! Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day ‘trip’ than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. Your kids look very cute. Your life looks cute. I know you’re mad but deep down you’re really nice and so am I. Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn’t going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message [sic], one filled with wisdom and hunanity [sic] would get more traction. Have a pleasant evening. Go chill out and watch the new game of thrones. It’s fab!”
Louise Linton, wife of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, just turned her Instagram private after posting this (h/t @skenigsberg) pic.twitter.com/beakVnAhhu
— Margarita Noriega (@margarita) August 22, 2017
Not surprisingly, the message provided all the ammunition the Left needed to open a whole new front in their war against the Trump admin. And, to our complete shock, within hours an 'independent' watchdog group called Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility filed a FOIA request for all of Steve Mnuchin's travel records based on allegations that he may have inappropriately utilized a government plane just to get a closer look at the eclipse.
Now, you may have thought the whole scandal was put to rest when the Washington Post reported that Mnuchin and his wife viewed the eclipse from the roof of Fort Knox, where they were attending official meetings along with Senate leader Mitch McConnell, and not from the comfort of a government plane...
It turns out that Mnuchin did view the eclipse while he was in Kentucky, and from an extraordinary place: Just outside the path of totality, from the roof of the nation’s fabled Fort Knox, atop nearly $200 billion in American gold.
But Treasury officials said Thursday that the trip was planned explicitly around “official government travel,” rejecting the idea that the Fort Knox visit and the appearance at a luncheon for the local chamber of commerce were mere cover. They said the luncheon appearance had been planned for early August but was delayed when McConnell postponed the Senate’s recess, an account confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Louisville chamber, Alison Brotzge-Elder.
...something that could have been easily verified with a quick peak at Mitch McConnell's Facebook page (notice the glasses in McConnell's hand)...
http://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php
But if you thought the Deep State would give up that easily then you drastically underestimate their resolve to get to the bottom of 'Eclipsegate2017'...it's not as if this is some minor issue like Hillary's missing emails.
All of which brings us to the present and today's announcement from the Treasury Department's inspector general that an all new inquiry has now been opened to, once again, investigate precisely where Steve Mnuchin was standing during the eclipse last month. Per The Hill:
“We are reviewing the circumstances of the Secretary’s August 21 flight ... to determine whether all applicable travel, ethics, and appropriation laws and policies were observed,” counsel Rich Delmar said in a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday.
“When our review is complete, we will advise the appropriate officials, in accordance with the Inspector General Act and established procedures,” Delmar continued.
Of course, we suspect it's only a matter of time until this very serious matter is transferred to Special Counsel Mueller who should probably start his investigation here: Linton's Maxim photoshoot.
Finally, since we know this is the only reason you clicked on this post anyway...here you go. Happy Friday.