Have you been watching the confirmation hearing for Steven Mnuchin, the man Donald Trump has selected to be his Treasury Secretary? You see that blond woman who’s in a bunch of the shots? Well, that’s his fiancée, who will eventually become his second wife. Her name is Louise Linton and she’s a Scottish actress, but beyond that, the facts about her are sort of murky.

See, earlier this year, she had a bit of a scandal when she was accused of “fabricating near-death experiences in Africa for her memoir,” according to the Daily Mail.

She self-published the book, In Congo’s Shadow: One Girl’s Perilous Journey to the Heart of Africa, earlier this year and was met with widespread criticism for her portrayal of Zambia. In fact, she yanked the book from sales and promised to donate money made from it to an appropriate charity. The book, which was about her choice to volunteer in Africa at age 18, was described as “the inspiring memoir of an intrepid teenager who abandoned her privileged life in Scotland.” The fury over her description of the country inspired the hashtag #LintonLies and earned her rebukes from Zambian writers and even the Zambian High Commission.

According to the Mail, one part of the book “described how her ‘dream gap year’ turned into a ‘nightmare’ when she had to flee armed rebels from the nearby Democratic Republic of Congo.” She detailed her worries about what said rebels “would do to the ‘skinny white muzungu with long angel hair’.”

Zambians weren’t interested in her portrayal of their country as a perilous, rundown no-man’s land in need of a white woman to save them. (See also: White Savior Complex)

Anyway, check her out on CSI: New York or behind Mnuchin at the hearing today.

[image: screengrab]

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