Lost in the news about the Tillerson firing and that Democrats seem to have won the seat long held by Republicans in the special election in Pennsylvania is that the latest to be exposed as a lying grifter in this administration is the oh-so-pious Ben Carson. Carson had said that he was shocked to learn that an expensive dining set had been ordered for his office at a time when his department was cutting funding for projects aimed at alleviating the conditions of the homeless. He said that this had been done without his knowledge and that once he learned of it, he had requested that it be cancelled.
Well, you know what’s coming.
Ben Carson and his wife personally selected a $31,000 furniture set for his office at the department of housing and urban development, according to a newly released email that contradicts past statements by Carson and his aides.
Carson and his spokesman Raffi Williams repeatedly claimed that the Hud secretary was not involved in a decision to make the purchase, after the Guardian revealed a controversy at the department around the furnishing of his office.
“Nobody was more surprised than me,” Carson said in a statement, before saying that he would cancel the order amid the controversy. Williams, who initially denied that the furniture order existed, also insisted that Carson had no involvement.
But in an email on 29 August last year that was released on Wednesday, an official at Hud wrote that Carson and his wife, Candy, had “picked out” the furniture themselves.
Is there anyone in this administration who is not a blatant grifter, liar, incompetent, and a hypocrite? It seems like a job requirement.
I wouldn’t even mind X amount of grift from someone who isn’t actively seeking to harm oppressed minorities.
I must admit that as a non-USAain, a $31,000 furniture set for a cabinet minister did not sound outrageous until I saw that it was out of the authorized spending limits.
One must give Dr. Carson the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he was working in ancient terms and had not realized that bushels of wheat stored in the Great Pyramid were of more value than he had realized.
@ Mano
Is a ‘special election’ roughly equivalent to a by election in many Commonwealth countries? It looks like it
jrkideau,
Yes, it is just like a by-election. The Republican incumbent had to resign when it was discovered that he had had an affair and had encouraged the woman to get an abortion despite being, of course, an ardent opponent of abortion rights because, you know, his god does not like it.
jrkrideau @3, Yes in US politics a special election is one that occurs outside of the normal time frame. In this case, the Pennsylvania 18th congressional district seat was vacant because of the resignation of a Rethug, Tim Murphy. He was elected loudly proclaiming his “Pro Life” position; surprisingly he showed some sense of shame when it came to light that he a) had an affair, b) resulting in pregnancy, c) (you know where this is going, right?) urged his lover to undergo an abortion.
Ah, too slow …
If it had been Hillary Clinton there would be an FBI investigation (and somehow Anthony Weiner would be the one who had the email)
What Ben meant was, “Nobody was more surprised than me that anybody would care if I bought that luxury office furniture!”
Thanks.