![Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's tax payer expense travel under review. / [Image by The White House via Flickr, Public Domain]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/9/23/660x290/b_502x220x82/treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchins-tax-payer-expense-travel-under-review-image-by-the-white-house-via-flickr-public-domain_1592487.jpg "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's tax payer expense travel under review. / [Image by The White House via Flickr, Public Domain]")
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was interviewed by Marth Raddatz on Sunday where he asked him about his use of an expensive government jet for travel during August. His response for using a C-37 for two trips remained the same. He needed the jets to have secure communication with the national security council and the President. More specifically, he said that for his trip from New York on to Washington, he had a secure call he had to take that day.
Two expensive flights under review
On September 22, ABC News reported on an investigation conducted by the Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General, in an article titled: "Mnuchin's travel: investigators now probing another costly government flight." The review covers his use of a jet to travel from New York City to Washington, D.C, after his appearance at Trump Tower.
Many will recall that Mnuchin stood next to President Trump when he made his controversial ad-libbed speech about the violent attacks caused by racist hate groups in Charlottesville.
Mnuchin's travel has reportedly been under review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) since the first week of September, according to a report by the Washington Post titled: "Treasury inspector general to review Mnuchin's flight to Fort Knox." The Post reported at the time that the IG, Eric M. Thorson, was reviewing a trip that Mnuchin and his wife took on August 21 during the solar eclipse, which Mnuchin claimed was for business purposes.
Other uses, requests and other cabinet officials under review
The ABC News report referred to reviews for two other requests Trump's treasury secretary made early August to use the government jet for a European honeymoon trip but that the request was later withdrawn.
It also referred to the Trump Tower press briefing saying that Transportation secretary Elaine Chao also used the C-37 to fly from Joint Base Andrews to New Jersey's Teter Airport.
Steve Mnuchin flew to New York on a commercial flight the same day for the briefing, using the same jet to go back to D.C. The controversy with using the military jet is that it apparently cost taxpayers $25,000 per hour to operate.
In his Sunday interview, he denied that it cost that much but did say that it was expensive. Raddatz disputed this with him, saying that the $25k figure came from the Department of Defense.
It's also been pointed out that only those from the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have ever used the jet.
Additionally, it's also only been used for international travel and not domestic. All sources questioned why a former Goldman Sachs banker -- who is independently wealthy -- couldn't just pay for the flights himself.
This recalls recent reports about the Republican National Committee paying at least $220,000 for President Trump and his family's legal fees when he is valued at $10 billion. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price is also said to be under review by his department's Inspector General for the use of private charter jets that amount to $300,000 in taxpayer fees since he was confirmed.
