Wife of Treasury Secretary Brags About Designer Clothes and Trip on Gov’t Plane, Mocks Taxpayer as ‘Out of Touch’

‘Have You Given More to the Economy Than Me and My Husband?’

Actress and producer Louise Linton is under fire after she posted a photo of herself and her new husband, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, exiting a federal government plane during a recent trip to Kentucky. After bragging about the ride, she also mentioned the designer brands she claimed to be wearing, to which one Instagram user took offense, asking her to not flaunt the extreme wealth she and her husband have, The Washington Post reports. The Treasury Secretary’s financial disclosure shows he is worth an estimated $500 million.

But rather than acknowledge her inappropriate flaunting, Linton attacked.

“Did you think this was a personal trip?!” she responded on her Instagram page to a user who had said, “glad we could pay for your little getaway.”

Linton, who apparently was wearing Hermès, Roland Mouret, Tom Ford and Valentino, did not stop there.

Instead, she bragged about paying more in taxes than her Instagram critic, and the amount of “self-sacrifice” she and her husband have made for the country.

“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.” 

It’s unclear what “self-sacrifice” Linton was referring to.

But she continued her attack and mocking of the social media user who questioned her.

“You’re adorably out of touch … Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. Your kids look very cute. Your life looks cute.”

On Twitter screenshots of Linton’s attack quickly spread, and after The Washington Post’s report Linton turned her account to private.

The Washington Post reports domestic travel for federal government officials is usually made not on federal government planes but on commercial airline carriers. A Treasury Dept. official says the trip was cleared through the appropriate channels and Linton’s costs were paid by the Mnuchins.

Linton’s remarks were not only stunning, but given the purpose of the trip to a state with a high poverty rate, stunningly inappropriate.

“The bizarre exchange came the day Mnuchin flew to Louisville to try to make the case for Congress to overhaul the tax code,” The Washington Post notes. “He particularly stressed how the tax changes would help middle-class Americans, although Democrats have alleged the Trump administration wants to pass large tax cuts that benefit the wealthy and multinational corporations.”

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