Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has flown on military aircraft seven times since becoming secretary, at a cost of approximately $811,797.81, and will do so again later this month, according to the report. | John Locher/AP Treasury inspector general finds no wrongdoing in Mnuchin plane travel 'What is of concern is a disconnect between the standard of proof called for ... and the actual amount of proof provided,' he wrote.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has not violated any laws with his use of government-funded planes but should provide more detail on why he needs them in the future, the department’s inspector general found in a report released Thursday.

Mnuchin has flown on military aircraft seven times since becoming secretary, at a cost of approximately $811,797.81, and will do so again later this month, according to the report. He has never expensed a private charter flight.


“I see no violation of law in these requests and uses,” OIG Counsel Rich Delmar wrote in the report.

“What is of concern is a disconnect between the standard of proof called for in [a 2011 memo from then-White House chief of staff William Daley], and the actual amount of proof provided by Treasury and accepted by the White House in justifying these trip requests,” he added.

The report was prompted by requests after Mnuchin’s trip to Kentucky with his wife, Louise Linton, who famously posted a picture of herself leaving the plane on Instagram and drew attention to the designer brands she was wearing.

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According to the report, a fare was estimated for Linton’s travel, for which Mnuchin reimbursed the government.

A flight to Miami, which cost over $40,000, would have cost only about $700 per person on a commercial flight, according to the report.

In the eight approved flights — which do not include Mnuchin’s withdrawn request to use a government-funded plane for his honeymoon — the trips were classified as White House support missions. To qualify as such a mission, the president “must have specifically directed that the travel occur” by personally requesting the assignment.

“In almost all cases a single boilerplate statement constituted the whole analysis and justification for designation and use of military aircraft, despite the fact that the memo clearly calls for a more rigorous and complete provision of facts and arguments,” the OIG report read.

But Delmar then noted that budget director Mick Mulvaney on Sept. 29 issued a memo related to government-funded travel, which “strongly suggests more rigor will be required in future requests.”

Treasury spokeswoman Molly Meiners noted that the inspector general's review "identified no violation of law, regulation, or ethics requirements in connection with the Department’s requests.”

“The Inspector General suggested certain enhancements to the longstanding approval process, which we intend to incorporate fully going forward,” she said in a statement.

Mnuchin personally owns a small plane, according to his financial disclosure form, but it might not be able to support secure communications required by the secretary in his role on the National Security Council.

“The Inspector General confirmed that the Secretary is ‘required by applicable authority and policy to have access to secure communications at a high level of classification at all times — including both official and personal travel,’” Meiners said.