--- title: Steve Mnuchin, Linton May Have Used Plane to Watch Eclipse description: A watchdog group requested government records Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s trip to Lexington, Ky. during the solar eclipse canonical: https://time.com/4915080/watchdog-steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-trip-eclipse/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-24T22:14:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:07.423Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watchdog: Mnuchin and Wife May Have Used Government Plane to Watch the Eclipse og:description: The group is requesting all records about the Treasury Secretary's flights og:url: https://time.com/4915080/watchdog-steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-trip-eclipse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ac7da083c0180a/6988db0bab6d77b96b6af878/steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-treasury-secretary-kentucky-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TREASURY-MNUCHIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watchdog: Mnuchin and Wife May Have Used Government Plane to Watch the Eclipse twitter:description: The group is requesting all records about the Treasury Secretary's flights twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ac7da083c0180a/6988db0bab6d77b96b6af878/steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-treasury-secretary-kentucky-trip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watchdog: Steven Mnuchin and Wife May Have Used Government Plane to Watch the Eclipse > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=08653339-8e34-4b4f-902d-d057e4aa5c5d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'Adorably Out of Touch.' Treasury Secretary's Wife Lashes Out at Critic After Flaunting Designer Clothes [Watch (HLS stream): 'Adorably Out of Touch.' Treasury Secretary's Wife Lashes Out at Critic After Flaunting Designer Clothes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2Lyg6aaH.m3u8) (1:09)  _Published 2017-08-22. Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, blasted as "adorably out of touch" a person who criticized her Instagram post in which Linton depicted her designer-label outfit._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Aug 24, 2017 10:14 PM UTC  Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton watch as President Donald Trump speaks during Mnuchin's swearing-in ceremony as Treasury Secretary in the Oval Office of the White House on Febr. 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton watch as President Donald Trump speaks during Mnuchin's swearing-in ceremony as Treasury Secretary in the Oval Office of the White House on Febr. 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Aug 24, 2017 10:14 PM UTC Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) [has requested](https://www.citizensforethics.org/foia/august-23-2017-u-s-department-treasury-mnuchin/) government records about the costs and purpose of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s trip to Lexington, Ky. during the solar eclipse on Monday. The trip caused a week of controversy for the couple after Linton sparked an online frenzy by posting a photo on Instagram with hashtags touting various designer brands. Then an Instagram user criticized her, saying: “Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable.” Linton [lashed out at the commenter](http://time.com/4910590/louise-linton-instagram-criticism/?iid=sr-link5), calling her “adorably out of touch” and saying she and her husband paid more taxes and sacrificed more than the woman. Linton [later apologized](http://time.com/4911605/louse-linton-instagram-post-apology/?iid=sr-link4), but the woman she criticized, Jennifer Miller, [wrote an op-ed](http://time.com/4913508/louise-linton-jennifer-miller-instagram-spat/?iid=sr-link2) Wednesday on CNN, saying Linton was the one who was out of touch. “I don’t think she has any idea what everyday Americans deal with, especially when it comes to economic struggles,” Miller wrote. Now, CREW is suggesting Mnuchin and Linton’s trip — during which Mnuchin spoke at an event with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — may have been planned to allow them to view the eclipse rather than strictly for government business. The group filed a Freedom of Information Act request for “copies of all records concerning authorization for and the costs of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on Monday, August 21, accompanied by his wife Louise Linton.” CREW also requested all records relating to authorization and costs for any use of a government plane since Mnuchin was appointed as Treasury Secretary. “The requested records would shed light on the justification for Secretary Mnuchin’s use of a government plane, rather than a commercial flight, for a trip that seems to have been planned around the solar eclipse and to enable the Secretary to secure a viewpoint in the path of the eclipse’s totality,” CREW said [on its website](https://www.citizensforethics.org/foia/august-23-2017-u-s-department-treasury-mnuchin/). “At a time of expected deep cuts to the federal budget, the taxpayers have a significant interest in learning the extent to which Secretary Mnuchin has used government planes for travel in lieu of commercial planes, and the justification for that use.” ## Transcript I really thought that it was just another example of the excess, had caused the issue. Because I had just been reading about with the secret service budget over time and some of the other things that we have seen over the last few months. And it also Upset me because here was a person getting off the government airplane. On what I assume was a government trip, with a government official. Honestly didn't know who se was. I assume she was the secretary's wife, but didn't know her name or anything but to then be tagging everything she was wearing, with all this expensive European designers names just. Seemed ridiculous and, quite frankly, offended me as someone who paid for part of their trip. It was very ironic that she was calling me out of touch and assuming things about me and Just being so incredibly condescending and so incredibly rude. But, it really fit in with her original posts. 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