Treasury Secretary Has Spent Nearly $1 Million on Military Flights

The Treasury Department’s Inspector General has concluded that Steven Mnuchin’s frequent use of military travel violated no laws. However:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has flown on military aircraft seven times since March at a cost of more than $800,000, including a $15,000 round-trip flight to New York to meet with President Trump at Trump Tower, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General.

….Mr. Mnuchin has made nine requests for military aircraft since assuming his position earlier this year and has taken seven flights….Treasury secretaries generally take commercial flights except in extenuating circumstances because of the exorbitant costs of using military planes.

Apparently Mnuchin routinely requests military flights just in case he has a pressing need to conduct classified phone calls. Which is totally reasonable. Commercial flights from DC to New York, for example, can take as long as an hour, and who knows what might happen if the Treasury Secretary were out of touch that long when he was needed for an emergency 25th Amendment call?

Also: that flight to Fort Knox to see the eclipse had nothing to do with the eclipse. So everyone should stop saying that it did.