Treasury secretary's wife apologizes for bragging about high-end clothing
The wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin apologized on Tuesday for a post on Instagram a day earlier in which she bragged about the high-end clothing brands that she was wearing and lambasted a commenter who criticized her.
"I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive," Louise Linton said in a statement Tuesday.
On Monday, Linton posted a photo of herself getting off a government plane with Mnuchin and used hashtags to highlight her Roland Mouret pants, Tom Ford sunglasses, Hermes scarf and Valentino heels.
When a user commented, "Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable," Linton then proceeded to defend herself and mock the commenter.
"Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable!" Linton wrote. "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 taxed 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. You're adorably out of touch. Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment."
The Tom Ford sunglasses appear to cost about $380, according to the company's website. The Hermes scarf is probably about $325, if it's the Maxi-twilly cut. Valentino Rockstud heels retail for $995. Stylebop has Linton's wide-legged Roland Mouret pants on sale for $476, though other sites are still selling them for $959.
Linton, a Scottish actress, and Mnuchin were married in Washington, D.C. in June. The Treasury Department says the Mnuchins reimbursed the government for the trip and that Linton received no compensation by any of the designers she mentioned in her post, according to The New York Times.
CBS News' Brian Gottlieb contributed to this report.