Awwww, Ben Carson won’t be getting his $31,000 dining set in his office at Housing and Urban Development, after all. The day after a spokesperson said that Carson hadn’t chosen the set but didn't think the cost was a problem, things changed. Carson has canceled the furniture order, which he suddenly has always thought was too expensive.
In a statement apparently provided by Carson’s longtime adviser—who is not a HUD aide—Armstrong Williams, Carson insisted that not only had he not requested a $31,000 dining set, but had asked for the existing “unsafe” furniture to be “remediated,” only to be told that “it was beyond repair and needed to be replaced.”
I briefly looked at catalogs for dining furniture and was shocked by the cost of the furniture. My wife asked if used furniture was an option. Our acquisition process did not allow for that. [...] I made it known that I was not happy about the prices being charged and that my preference would be to find something more reasonable.
So … we’re to believe that after Carson asked for something cheaper, career HUD staffers independently ordered something that was going to cause him not just PR problems but was dubiously legal? That’s what he’s going with, in the face of this story having come to light after another career HUD staffer said she was demoted for pushing back against a lavish office redecoration?
And about that Armstrong Williams thing: As MSNBC commentator and former Obama administration staffer Matthew Miller asked, “An outside advisor, who doesn't work for the government, is making announcements about what a Cabinet secretary will do in his official capacity? What in the world is going on here?” Who knows—maybe Carson didn’t feel he could rely on career HUD staffers to push that blatant of a lie, let alone a blatant lie essentially blaming said career HUD staffers.
What inquiring minds really want to know, though, is what the hell was going on with the $31,000 dining set, and CNN got the details:
The table and two base pedestals cost more than $4,000. The pedestals are described as having "hand applied ebonized inlay with bell flowers topped by hand carved scrolls and a fluted column."
Eight Regent dining side chairs from the David Phoenix Collection total $7,920 ($990 a piece) and are described as "stately ... with rich exposed wood detailing the back and a graciously sculpted leg." Two additional armchairs are a bit more expensive -- $1,050 each.
But it's the Jefferson sideboard, wood top and breakfront deck base from the Alexa Hampton Collection that really racked up the charges. The three pieces total $13,579. "Crafted of crotch mahogany, satin wood and quartered mahogany borders, carved teardrop and dentil molding on crown," reads the description reviewed by CNN.
Well, sure, of course. You need more than $13,000 worth of sideboard and breakfront to complement your $10,000 worth of chairs.
