Treasury Secretary's Wife Has a Marie Antoinette Moment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin flew to Louisville, Ky., to push for changes to the tax code on Monday, and if that sounds like a potential opportunity to plug #valentinorockstudheels, well, you'd be surprised. Mnuchin's wife of two months, the Scottish actress Louise Linton, accompanied her husband on the trip, and posted a glam Instagram photo (her account is now private, but you can see a screenshot of the post here) of her deplaning from a military jet that includes a slew of tags for the luxury items she was apparently wearing. Among them: those Valentino pumps, #rolandmouret pants, #tomford sunnies, and #hermesscarf. It spurred what HuffPost is calling her "let them eat cake moment," after an Instagram user's take on the photo didn't sit well with Linton.

A woman the New York Times identifies as Oregon mother-of-three Jenni Miller had this to say: "Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable." A portion of Linton's lengthy reply:

• "@Jennimiller29 cute!....Aw!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! 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 taxes 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. Your kids look very cute. Your life looks cute."

The Washington Post notes that Linton has "raised eyebrows" in the White House for tagging along with her husband in a way atypical of spouses. A Treasury Department rep says the couple paid for Linton's portion of the travel, and that Linton didn't get anything from the fashion brands she endorsed. It's not Linton's first brush with controversy, notes the Post in a second piece that resurfaces "last year's Zambia memoir debacle." (More Steven Mnuchin stories.)